Together forever
by SakuNaruLover
Summary: Certain things have happened and it made Sakura realise that Naruto is not the boy she thought he was. They become close and work together to save what is dear to them. [NaruSaku]
1. Chapter 1

Hi everyone. This is my new story. I had this idea for some time now, but I finally decided to write it down. I hope you enjoy reading this. This story begins right after Tsunade becomes the hokage. I think it will be a long story. After a few chapters there will be a time skip. Some parts of the story will be like the mange, but other parts will be completely different.

This story will be NaruSaku and maybe there will be other pairings.

Well, I hope you enjoy the story

Please review and I stand open for comments and critique.

**Now let the story begin**

Naruto watched up from the ground to see that his alarm clock was going off. He looked at the alarm clock and saw that it was almost time to go. Naruto shoot up. He was really happy today, because today he had his first mission in weeks. He had returned with Tsunade and Jiraiya a few weeks ago. She was now the new hokage and she had been very busy. He hadn't gotten a single mission since he came back to Konoha and that frustrated him. He wasn't the hyperactive number one ninja for nothing. He had a lot of energy, so he went to train every day. But it was starting to get boring and he hadn't seen his friends in a long time too. The last time he saw them was in the hospital when Tsunade healed Sasuke and Sakura hugged the raven haired boy. He had clenched his fist, but had just walked away, because he knew Sakura wanted to be with Sasuke.

He was finally done with getting ready. "Damn. I'm going to be late. No way that I'm going to let Kakashi-sensei beat me."

He closed his door and jumped to the rooftops. He ran as fast as he could to the bridge where they almost met before a mission. When he jumped he wondered what kind of mission it would be. He hoped it would be a tough one, because he wanted to prove himself once and for all. Sakura still saw him as the annoying boy and he wanted to change that.

Sakura and Sasuke were waiting on the bridge. Sasuke was standing on the left side with his back against the railing. He looked to be deep in thought. Sakura was standing on the other side. She was looking at the boy the whole time. Suddenly Sasuke turned his face and looked at her direction. Sakura flinched and a blush entered her face. _Is Sasuke-kun really looking at me?_ Then she heard a lot of noisy behind her. She turned around and saw a big orange blur. Sakura sulked a bit. _So that's why he was looking this way._

"Good morning, Sakura-chan!" The boy looked happy to see her. He nodded to Sasuke and the raven haired boy nodded back and then started looking to the other side. Sakura's smile faded and was replaced by an angry face. She walked over to the noisy boy. "Why did you have to show up, baka? I was enjoying my private time with Sasuke-kun." Then she walked away again. Naruto's smile disappeared for a few seconds. He was hurt by her words. He just wanted to be nice. He quickly replaced it by a smile and sat down on the ground.

Suddenly they heard a sound and looked up. Kakashi was standing on the railing of the bridge. He was about to make an excuse, but Naruto and Sakura interrupted him, saying that he was lying. Sasuke just sighed.

"So what's our mission? It's been a while since we had a mission together; I'm going to enjoy this."

Kakashi jumped down. "I'm going on an S-rank mission today. I will be away for at least a week."

Naruto's face fell and the two other seemed disappointed as well.

"But, I have another mission for the three of you. You guys are to go to the northern end of the fire country. There is a camp of thieves living there. They stole a valuable item from the feudal lord yesterday and according to a source they are going to bring it there in a week. So I want you guys to go there. It is quite far. You can reach your destination in two days."

Naruto frowned a bit, but nodded. "Well, a mission is a mission."

Sakura looked very happy. _Yeah, a week with Sasuke-kun. _

And Sasuke didn't give a response.

"There will be no team leader. You have to work together to make this mission work. Well, good luck." The masked shinobi made a seal in disappeared.

Sakura suddenly realised something. They were going on a long trip and there was no village on the way. _No showers…_

Sasuke walked away, saying that they'll meet at the gate tomorrow morning. Sakura tried to stop him, but he was gone. She frowned and turned to head home too. She walked right past Naruto.

"Sakura-chan, want me to walk you home?" He gave a big smile, but Sakura didn't even respond.

Naruto walked through the streets of Konoha. He was thinking about the mission. He decided to go to the armoury to get some weapons. He looked around and saw that everyone was watching him with an angry face. He looked down. It was always like this. He knew that they just saw him as the monster fox. He knew that deep down they wanted him to die. His face dropped even more.

He had made some friends. Iruka-sensei was there, the other genin of his class seemed to accept him. And then there were Sasuke, his long time rival, and Sakura, the love of his life. She treated him like a punching bag most of the time, but she had her nice times too. Sasuke called him an idiot almost every minute, but he knew deep down that Sasuke saw him as a friend too.

He looked up again and walked to the armoury. He picked up some kunai and shuriken and put them in his pouch. He walked over to the medicine and grabbed two antidotes. _Just in case. _

After eating some ramen he returned to his apartment. He made everything ready for the mission and jumped to his bed. He fell asleep and dreamed about his dream girl.


	2. The mission

Hey guys. Here's chapter 2. I hope you still enjoy my story. This will be a long chapter with quite some action. It took me a few hours to write this, but I am quite happy with the outcome. I hope you guys are too.

"Hello": regular talking  
_'Hello'_: thinking

'**_Hello'_**: Inner Sakura and Kyuubi talking

Don't forget to review and comment.

**Now on to the story :D**

Naruto had gotten up early this morning. He made some breakfast. He thought about the mission while he was eating. He was wondering how Sasuke would fare in his first mission since he was knocked out by Itachi. He still remembers how Itachi almost killed him and Sasuke. If it wasn't for the frog tamer he wouldn't be sitting here.

He didn't want to be late this morning again. He jumped out of his window and decided to go to the gate. When he got there, he saw that Sasuke was already waiting for him.

"Where were you, dobe?"

Naruto looked around and asked where Sakura was. Sasuke said he didn't know and said something about just leaving her behind. Naruto was starting to get irritated with the guy and wanted to hit him, but just then he saw something pink coming their way.

"Good morning, Sakura-chan!"

Sakura looked up and saw that the boy was smiling and that Sasuke didn't even look up. She decided that she would be nice for one time.

"Good morning, Naruto. So are we ready to go?"

The two others nodded and they jumped into the trees.

They decided to make the journey in one go. They would run the entire day and rest for a few minutes every 3 hours. Naruto and Sasuke were going faster and faster

Sakura was panting and had trouble to keep up. She looked to the two boys and saw that they were smiling to each other. _'That stupid rivalry.' _

They have been running for more than a day now and in about 3 hours they would be at the location. Naruto and Sasuke agreed to run for another 2 hours. They would make a camp and rest for a while before going to the hideout.

Naruto looked back and saw that Sakura had trouble keeping up. He slowed down his pace. Sasuke called him a loser and didn't slow down his pace.

"Sakura-chan, how are you doing?"

Sakura looked at the boy and saw a concerned look on his face.

"I…I'm fine, Naruto."

'_Why does Naruto have to ask me this? I wanted it to be Sasuke-kun' _Inner Sakura agreed with her.

Naruto looked at the girl and saw that she was breathing heavily. He slowed down a little bit and looked her in the eyes.

"You don't look okay, Sakura-chan. I'm going to tell Sasuke that we'll make our camp here. You can stop and find a good spot."

Naruto increased his speed again and Sakura stopped. She jumped down and sat down. She was tired. '_Thank you, Naruto.' _She thought.

She found a good place and waited till her team mates returned. It was getting dark already and she was getting a little scared. Then finally she saw the two boys coming. Naruto smiled and Sasuke had a frown on his face.

"Why did we have to stop here again?"

Sakura looked down and knew that Sasuke would be angry at her if she told him that it was her fault. She was about to speak up when Naruto started to say something.

"I was tired, so I told Sakura-chan to find a place to sleep."

Sakura was shocked and looked to the spiky-haired boy. He looked at her too and smiled. Sasuke sighed and grabbed his sleeping bag. He lied down and went to sleep. 

Sakura and Naruto grabbed their sleeping bags too and Naruto lied down too. He was about to fall asleep when he saw that Sakura was walking his way. "Thank you, Naruto. That was really nice of you."

Naruto just smiled: "My pleasure, Sakura-chan." She gave him a quick smile and went to sleep.

Sakura woke up and saw that the sun was shining. She sprung up and saw that it was quite early. She looked over to the places where Sasuke and Naruto had been, but they weren't there anymore. She heard some noises and walked to them. She saw the two boys sitting on the ground. They were sweating. She looked around and saw a lot of destroyed trees.

'Wow. Looks like they have been training for a while.'

'**Sasuke-kun sure is strong. Look at those trees. I can't wait to have my way with him.' **Sakura had enough of her inner self and shut her up. She walked to the two boys.

Naruto heard something and turned around. He saw Sakura coming their way. "Sakura-chan, you're awake. Now we can begin the mission."

Sasuke walked over to the other two ninjas.

"Took you long enough." Sasuke said with an irritated voice.

Sakura looked down, but Naruto looked angry.

"Hey, let's go." He smiled at the girl and she gave him an appreciative look in return.

They were making their way to the hideout. Sakura just remembered something and increased her speed a little. She was now running next to Sasuke. Sakura looked at the raven haired boy and smiled. **'That boy looks fine! Shannaro!'**

"Sasuke-kun, I haven't thanked you yet." Sakura said, completely catching Sasuke off guard.

Sasuke looked confused. "For what?"

"You saved me from the sand. I haven't thanked you for that yet. I am really grateful. Without you, I would have been dead now."

Sasuke looked down. "No."

Sakura looked confused. _'Why does he say no? Can't I thank him for saving my life?'_

"The one who saved you was Naruto."

Sakura looked to the sleeping boy and then back to Sasuke. "You don't have to be modest, Sasuke-kun. I know Naruto is strong, but he can't beat someone like Gaara."

Sasuke interrupted her and she looked very surprised. "It's true. He fought with everything he had to save you. He even showed powers he had never shown before. To save you that guy risked death."

Sakura was speechless. She looked at the boy who was running in front of them and gave him a genuine smile. _'I can't believe it. He would really risk his life for me?'_

The three ninjas had surrounded the base of the thieves. Naruto and Sasuke would keep the enemies busy and Sakura would get the priceless item they were to retrieve. Sakura looked at the picture that she got from Kakashi. _'Seems like an ordinary ring to me.'_

Sakura was waiting for the sign to go in. When one of the guys threw a smoke bomb on the ground, she was supposed to sneak in the base.

She saw Sasuke and he threw a smoke bomb on the ground. Naruto did the same on the other side and the thieves ran to the two boys. '_Great job, Sasuke-kun'. _Inner Sakura was impressed by the boy too._ **'Shannaro. Nobody can defeat Sasuke-kun!'**_

She ran towards the storage room and saw the ring. She put it in her bag and looked for a chance to run away. She saw that Naruto and Sasuke had trouble to hold their own. The thieves were stronger than they thought. She saw a few clones and some flashes of fire. She looked around and saw that 2 of the thieves were defeated.

She saw an opening and started to run. She didn't see a rock on the ground and she fell, making a lot of sound. She started to run again. Suddenly she felt something and looked behind her. A man was holding her dress.

"What do you think you are doing here, missy." Sakura became scared when she saw that the man was holding a big sword.

Naruto was fighting 2 thieves at the same time and saw that one of the thieves standing in front of his dream girl. "Sakura-chan! They use poison. Watch out!"

Sakura heard the boy and knew that she couldn't be hit. She forgot to bring antidotes. The ninja ran to her and almost hit her with the sword. '_He's so fast.' _Sakura tried to kick him, but he easily evaded the kick and grabbed her leg. He threw her to the ground. Naruto saw it and kicked away the two thieves that were fighting him. He ran towards the girl.

Sakura opened her eyes and saw that the man was trying to hit her with the sword. She couldn't get away fast enough. '_So this is the end.' _She was about to close her eyes when she saw that Naruto jumped in front of her and tried to kick the ninja. The ninja evaded the attack and hit Naruto with his sword.

"Naruto!" The sword had gone right through him as Sakura could see the tip of the sword in Naruto's back.

"Too bad, kid. The tip of this sword is filled with poison. You won't be able to fight anymore." Sakura looked at Naruto and saw that he was having trouble standing.

She was even more shocked when he made a clone and when a blue ball started to form in his hand, while the clone was moving his hands above the real Naruto's hand. He ran to the man and hit him with it. The thief hit a tree and was unconscious.

She turned around when she heard a cry from behind her. She now saw 2 swords piercing Naruto. "Naruto!" The two thieves behind him withdrew their swords and Naruto fell on the ground.

Sasuke had defeated 3 thieves now and he was fighting two. He had trouble breathing. He punched a ninja and suddenly felt something in his arm. He looked and saw that he was hit by a kunai. Sakura looked when Sasuke yelled and fell to the ground. She ran over to him and saw that he was only hit in his arm and that purple stuff was on the kunai.

"Oh no, poison." Sasuke was unconscious and turned pale.

Sakura didn't know what to do. She saw the boy she liked dying in front of her. **_'What are you doing. Help him!' _**Even inner Sakura couldn't make her move. The only thing that came to her mind was calling for help.

"Naruto! Sasuke is poisoned, please help him!"

She didn't see the other boy move too and started to cry. Suddenly a thief grabbed her hair and grabbed her hands. Sakura tried to get away, but she didn't have the power.

"Now for the last one!"

Sakura closed her eyes and knew it was over. Another thief grabbed his sword and was ready to hit her, when he was suddenly kicked away. Sakura opened her eyes and saw that Naruto was in front of her.

"LET SAKURA-CHAN GO!**" **

He disappeared and suddenly Sakura could move again. She looked behind her and saw that the man holding her was unconscious. Sakura looked at Naruto and saw that he used his kunai to kill the last thief.

Naruto collapsed. Sakura saw this, but looked the other way and saw Sasuke lying on the ground. She quickly turned around and ran to Sasuke. She was shocked to see that he was still pale.

Naruto opened his eyes again and saw his two friends. His body hurt, but he had to help his friends. He ran over to Sakura and Sasuke. He saw that Sasuke was unconscious and pale. Naruto knew that he must have been poisoned and then looked at Sakura and saw that she had a cut too with some poison coming out of it. Naruto grabbed the two antidotes and injected them into Sakura and Sasuke.

Sakura didn't respond and kept looking at Sasuke. Naruto put his hand on her shoulder. "We need to go, Sakura-chan. We need to go to Konoha and go to a hospital." Sakura knew that he was right, but somehow she didn't move.

"Sakura-chan?" She was getting angry. Why was Naruto standing, while Sasuke was on the ground? Naruto had been pierced 3 times and Sasuke was hit one time in his arm. Naruto had gotten in much more poison then the boy lying on the ground. She didn't get it. Why was the weak Naruto okay and the strong and invincible Sasuke almost dead? It isn't fair. Why is Sasuke lying on the ground? **_'Sasuke-kun can't be defeated!'_**

"Sakura-chan. We need to get moving now." She turned around with an angry face.

"Just shut up! Why are you able to stand anyway? Sasuke-kun is down, so why are you standing. He is much stronger than you. It's not fair!" She pushed him away and continued to cry on Sasuke.

Naruto was horrified. His face went blank and emotionless. He knew that she didn't like him; he knew that she hated him most of the time. But now she wanted him dead?

Everyone has always hated him. Whenever he walked through the streets of his village, the people would always hate him. Some people forced a smile out of fear, but he knew that it was fake.

He thought that he had finally made friends when team 7 was formed. He hated Sasuke at first, but he came to accept him. And it seemed like they accepted him too. Sakura would even smile at him sometimes lately and he though that she respected him.

Tears started to form in his eyes. She of all people hated him. She wanted him death. He couldn't hold it anymore and tears fell out. He thought that he wasn't alone anymore.

He stood up and wiped away his tears. '_Screw them. I am still alone. I won't let anyone hurt me anymore. I am going to become hokage all by myself. And then they have to respect me.' _

He walked away from the unconscious boy and the crying girl. He dropped his bag and kunai pouch. He threw away his jacket and walked back.

Sakura saw it, but didn't respond. _What is he doing? It's no use. Sasuke-kun is dead. So why even bother?_

Sakura heard some cries of pain and looked up. Naruto was pulling out the swords. She was shocked, but couldn't say or do anything. She looked and saw that he was losing a lot of blood. She then looked even more surprised when he made a seal.

"Stupid fox! Give me a little chakra!" Sakura didn't understand what he said, but she saw some red chakra around him. Suddenly there was a clone next to him. She didn't get it. What was he going to do?

She saw the clone walking to Sasuke and saw that he took the unconscious boy on his back.

Sakura saw it, but didn't respond. '_What is he doing? It's no use. Sasuke-kun is dead. So why even bother?'_

Naruto walked over to Sakura. She looked him in the face. She had never seen Naruto look like this. There was no emotion or whatsoever. She wanted to scream to him again, but she didn't have the strength. She was surprised when Naruto pulled her up from her sitting position.

"Naruto…"

She couldn't say anything. If he let go, she would feel down to her knees again. Her legs didn't work anymore. She was even more surprised when Naruto picked her up and held her in front of him. She heard cries of pain coming from Naruto, but she didn't say anything. Her eyes closed and she fell asleep.


	3. forgive and forget

Chapter 3 is up. I hope you still enjoy reading my story. I just read another story and saw that my chapter 2 resembles that story quite a bit. I have written this before I read that story though.

"Hello": regular talking  
_'Hello'_: thinking

'**_Hello'_**: Inner Sakura and Kyuubi talking

This chapter: They return to Konoha. How will everyone react?

Don't forget to R&R

**Enjoy**

Sakura opened her eyes. '_Where am I?'_

She looked around and saw that she was in the hospital. She saw the hokage in her room.

"What…what happened?"

The female hokage walked her way. "I see you are finally awake. That's good. You had a wound on your arm, but it is fine now. We took out the poison. Your team members are not that lucky, though."

Sakura shoot up. "What happened to Sasuke-kun! Is he all right?"

Tsunade sat down on her bed. "Sasuke is still unconscious. I think he is in a coma, but he will awake from it soon. You guys should thank Naruto, you know."

Sakura looked confused. "Why?"

"You don't remember, don't you? He carried you guys back to Konoha."

'_Yeah, he was carrying me when I blacked out.'_

"So how is he?" Sakura asked with a sad face.

Tsunade looked down to the ground. "When I and the rest of the medical nins arrived, Naruto was still looking after you guys. When I told him that I was going to take care of things, he collapsed. He had blood restoration pills in his hand. He had a lot of wounds. He must have restored the blood he lost with those pills. He almost died. We operated on him, but he was poisoned too. He was critical for a moment, but he's alright now. He's resting in his room."

Sakura's eyes widened. _'He injected something in me and Sasuke-kun. That must have been an antidote. Why didn't he use one for himself?'_

"He almost died because of us?" Sakura looked sad and the hokage noticed this.

"You can leave the hospital whenever you want. You can go to the boys, but they are not awake."

Sakura nodded and walked to Sasuke's room. She sat down on the chair there. She looked at the boy and became very sad. **_'How can Sasuke-kun be defeated? It is not possible.'_** Sakura got a headache from her inner persona and shut her up. Her eyes became heavy and she fell asleep.

She woke up and the nurses told her she had been sleeping the entire day and night. She couldn't bear to look at the boy anymore and walked down the stairs. She overheard some nurses talking.

"I heard that he left the hospital today. He was still injured, but the nurses who were there couldn't stop him. I heard he was poisoned and was severely injured.."

Sakura didn't like the sound of that and interrupted them. "Did he leave?"

"Yeah. He had a scary look on his face. He seemed to be angry and sad at the same time."

Sakura's face fell. _'Why would he do something like that?'_

'**_You know why! You were only concerned about Sasuke-kun. Not that I blame you. When he tried to talk to you, you pushed him away and said that you didn't think it was fair that Naruto was alive and Sasuke wasn't.' _**Inner Sakura said.

She walked out of the hospital and walked to a bench. She sat down and was deep in thought. _'What have I done?'_

She didn't hear that footsteps were heading her way.

"Hey, Sakura!"

Sakura looked up to see a group of her friends waving at her from outside. She saw Ino, Lee and Neji walking to her. "Hey, guys!"

"So what happened out there? We saw you guys when you came back to Konoha and you looked terrible. Naruto won't talk to anyone and Sasuke-kun is still out, so you will have to tell us." Ino sat down next to her friend.

Sakura looked down and told them what happened.

"Wow, that's crazy!" They couldn't believe what they just heard.

"I saw Naruto when he returned. He looked very bad. His entire body was covered with blood. He collapsed when Tsunade-sama came to you guys. He really gave it his all to save you guys." Lee smiled a little, but that smile disappeared as soon as it got there.

"But why won't he talk to anyone. We tried to talk to him, but he just walks by us. He seems angry. He just goes his apartment and only comes out when he has too."

Sakura became ever sadder now. _'It is my fault. Naruto is sad because of me. He tried to save me and I just scolded him. I'm such a bitch.' _ Inner Sakura couldn't help but agree.

Lee and Neji said their goodbyes and walked to the training grounds. They said that they had a lot of training to do. Ino stayed with Sakura, but didn't say anything. She saw that her friend was sad and that if she said something wrong, Sakura would explode.

Ino was surprised when she saw that her friend was crying. She quickly placed her arms around the girl. She used one of her hands to slide up and down on her back to calm the girl down.

"It's alright, Sakura. What's wrong? You can tell me."

Sakura continued to sob, but managed to look up again. "It's my entire fault."

Sakura ran away and didn't look back. Ino didn't know what just happened, but figured that the girl needed some time to think.

Sakura couldn't take it anymore. She was running and crying. She didn't even know where she was running. _'I'm a terrible person. I'm just so selfish.' _She wiped away the tears in her eyes and saw that she was at the training grounds of team 7.

She wondered why she thought of Naruto the way she did. It must be because of her mother and the other adults. They all seem to resent Naruto. '_But why?'_

She knew that that wasn't the reason. She thought back at all the times that he and Sasuke fought and argued. '_Naruto is the rival of Sasuke-kun. I didn't even look at Naruto and just assumed that everything Sasuke-kun said or did was right. I didn't even use my head. I just saw Sasuke-kun and didn't even bother to look at Naruto.'_

She was broken out of her thoughts when she heard some noises and walked to them. She was surprised when she saw Naruto sitting next to a training pole. She jumped down, because she didn't want to be noticed. _'What is he doing?'_

She saw that the boy had trained a little bit, but was shocked to find blood leaking from his body. She thought about it for some time and decided to talk to the boy. She stood up and greeted the boy: "Hey, Naruto."

Naruto flinched a little, but he didn't turn to face her. "Just go away, Sakura." Sakura missed the -chan behind her name. He had always called her Sakura-chan. "Naruto…"

Naruto couldn't hold his voice down anymore: "Just leave! I want to be alone!" Sakura looked at the boy. He was still bleeding and he looked hurt. '_It is my entire fault. Why am I such a heartless bitch?' _

She started to sob a little. "I want to talk to you about what happened. I'm really sorry. I flipped when Sasuke got hurt and when I saw you walking around. I couldn't understand. I thought Sasuke was always the best at everything and that you were weak. Sometimes you're annoying, but you're funny too."

Naruto stood up and walked away without looking at her. "Just leave me alone, Sakura. You've done enough already." He walked away and Sakura fell down to her knees and started crying again.

Naruto returned to his apartment and started to sob a little. He didn't want to be so mean to her, but he didn't want his heart to be broken again too. He decided that it was for the best to ignore her. _'I'm sorry, Sakura-chan.'_

It was getting late and Naruto was getting ready to go to bed. He was very tired and wanted to go to sleep and forget about this day.

Suddenly he heard a noise. He couldn't quite place it. The noise kept repeating itself and Naruto figured that someone was knocking on his door. _'What idiot would bother me at a time like this.' _He hoped that the person would just go away.

He suddenly heard a voice: "Naruto, it's me, Sakura. Please, I want to talk to you."

Naruto's eyes shot open. '_Why is she here? Doesn't she need to be with Sasuke now? She hated me right?'_

Naruto looked out of the window and saw that it started to rain.

"Naruto, please. I am really sorry." Naruto tried to ignore her and hoped that she would go away.

"Naruto…"

She had called out to her for five minutes now. '_Why is she still here? She should get home.' _

"Go home. You'll catch a cold!"

"NO! I am not going away until I've talked to you!" He was shocked that the girl was so determined to stay.

'_Just go home. You have hurt me enough already. I don't want you to get sick. Please go home.'_

It was quiet for a while and Naruto thought that she had finally gone home. He closed his eyes when he heard her voice again.

"I'm really the one that should have died out there. It should have been me. I'm the only bitch here. I should have died there." She was crying here lungs out.

Naruto was shocked by these words. He couldn't take it anymore. No matter how much she hated him, no matter what happened, he would care fore her. He jumped out of his bed and ran to the door. He opened it and saw Sakura on her knees in front of the door crying and trembling.

He pulled her into his apartment and closed the door. She opened her eyes and saw what happened. She continued to cry: "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"

Naruto kneeled and looked sad. "It's alright, Sakura-chan."

Sakura kept crying and mumbling words of apology. Naruto placed his hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay, Sakura-chan. Please stop crying."

She looked up. '_Sakura-chan. He said chan again.' _She looked into his eyes and saw that they were not longer eyes of anger, but he looked worried and his eyes were watery too. '_Is he giving me a second chance?'_

"It's okay, Sakura-chan. I forgive you, please stop crying. I can't stand it when you cry."

Sakura's eyes widened and she started to cry even more. Naruto was even more surprised when she suddenly leaped forward and wrapped her arms around him.

"Thank you, I'm so sorry!"

Naruto was shocked. '_She wants to be my friend now?'_ He wrapped his arms around her too and pulled her closer.

"It's okay." He said with a small voice.

Naruto saw how the girl was still trembling and he let her go. "I'm sorry. I should have let you in right away."

Sakura looked at him with an angry face. "Don't apologise. If anyone doesn't need to apologise it is you."

Naruto looked at the girl and looked sad. _'I should cheer her up a bit.'_

"You made me all wet, Sakura-chaaan." She looked at him and saw that he was pouting. She smiled a little. Naruto smiled back. "Now there's the smile that I missed." Sakura stood up and turned around.

"Thank you for everything, Naruto. You should be sleepy. I'll go home." She looked outside and saw that it was storming. Naruto saw this too and he didn't want to send her through that. He put on a fake smile and turned the girl around.

"Sakura-chan. You look filthy." Sakura looked down and agreed, but she didn't understand why he would bring up such a subject.

"You can use my shower if you want. Looking at the weather I think you will be staying for a while." Sakura looked at the boy and saw that he was smiling. She couldn't help but smile too.

"Thanks, Naruto. I think I will."

Naruto led her to the bathroom and opened the door. He grabbed a bathrobe. "Put your dirty clothes on the ground and put this on. It's the only thing I've got at the moment."

Sakura walked into the room. "Thanks, that will do fine." She closed the door. He heard her say something from the shower. "No peeking!" Naruto walked to the kitchen and made 2 cups of hot chocolate. He put on his shirt and sat down on the couch.

A moment later Sakura entered the room. Naruto looked at the girl and his eyes widened. She had put on his robe and her hair was still a little wet and hanging down. He thought she looked beautiful.She sat down next to Naruto and saw the cup.

"Thanks, Naruto." She started to drink it and it felt really good. They just sat there for a long time and said nothing. Naruto didn't know what to say, so he kept silent. Sakura was lost in thought for a while and started speaking.

"I want to thank you for saving me, Naruto. For this time and for the time Gaara had me pinned to a tree."

Naruto was surprised. Sakura moved closer to him. "You really are a great guy, Naruto." Naruto was blushing a lot, but he knew he had to endure. He knew she still loved Sasuke.

They talked the whole night. They never left the couch they were sitting on and enjoyed their time together. Naruto was really happy. This day had become one of the best days ever. His dream girl had finally noticed him.

Next chapter: Sasuke awakens and Kakashi returns


	4. promise of a lifetime

Hey guys. I hope you enjoy my story. I really enjoy writing it. This is still only the beginning of the story. I think it will be a real long one. The narusaku-ness will start getting bigger now.

"Hello": regular talking  
_'Hello'_: thinking  
'**_Hello'_**: Inner Sakura and Kyuubi talking

Please review. I want to know what you guys think. Be honest with me. I want to know if I should change things and what I need to get better at.

**Enjoy the story**

Ino was walking to the hospital when she suddenly saw Naruto.

"Hey, Naruto!" She was surprised when she saw Sakura walking next to him in a black shirt and Naruto's orange jacket.

"What are you doing in Naruto's clothes, forehead?"

Naruto told her the whole story.

"I'm glad that everything is good again."

Sakura and Naruto looked at each other and smiled. Sakura looked to Ino. "So we're good friends now. We're going to see Sasuke after I change clothes."

Ino nodded and started to look very creepy. "Why are you wearing Naruto's clothes, Sakura?"

Sakura quickly looked away. "My clothes were dirty when I came to Naruto's place, so he gave me these." Ino nodded with a sly smile. "Yeah right."

"That's the truth." Naruto said while he and Sakura walked to her home.

Sakura had changed her clothes. She closed the door behind her and walked to Naruto. She was now wearing her usual outfit. She was glad her mother wasn't home, because she knew that her mother hated Naruto for some reason.

They walked up the stairs in the hospital and opened the door to Sasuke's room. They saw Kakashi's back.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei…"

Their eyes widened when they saw that Sasuke was sitting up.

Sakura ran towards the boy and hugged him. "Sasuke-kun! I'm so glad that you're okay!" Sasuke just looked away and saw Naruto. He nodded and Naruto nodded back.

"So, how long were you planning on lying there, Sasuke." Naruto gave a big smile.

"Baka. Don't be so mean to Sasuke-kun. He just woke up." Sakura glared at Naruto.

Kakashi stood up and walked to the door. "I heard that Sasuke can leave the hospital today. Come to the usual spot tomorrow morning. You can tell me everything what has happened." With that he walked out of the room, leaving only the 3 genin behind.

Naruto looked at the other two and looked a little sad. He turned around to walk to the door.

"Naruto. Where are you going?"

He turned around and saw that Sakura was looking at him with a confused look.

"I know you want to be alone with him now. I know how much you have missed him. I still have to do something anyway." He looked at Sasuke and saw that he wasn't appreciating it. He turned around and walked out of the room. '_Thank you, Naruto-baka.' _

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Naruto was waiting on the bridge with his two team members. "He's late again."

Sakura and Sasuke nodded, when they heard a small explosion behind them. Kakashi emerged from the smoke. Kakashi made a lame excuse, but was interrupted by Sakura and Naruto.

"So what happened out there?" Kakashi looked at Naruto.

"I don't want to talk about it." He looked to the ground.

Sasuke walked to Naruto. "Come on, dobe. I want to know too. What happened after I blacked out?" Naruto turned around.

Sakura could see that he was still hurt. "I'll tell you what happened." Kakashi and Sasuke turned to Sakura as she started to talk.

"You were poisoned and you fell on the ground. I was poisoned too, but I only had a little bit of poison in my system. I couldn't fight anymore and I was about to be killed. Then Naruto came and he defeated the rest of the thieves. Then he carried you and me to the village. Naruto almost died, because he saved us."

Sasuke and Kakashi looked at Naruto and saw that he was smiling a bit again. "I guess I should thank you, dobe." Naruto started to grin.

Kakashi walked forward. "I'm sorry for what has happened. I thought it would be an easy mission, but I was wrong." They all nodded and looked down. "So are you going to train us, Kakashi-sensei?"

"You guys can take a day off. Sasuke is still recovering, so we'd better take it easy." Sasuke and Sakura nodded and Naruto angry looked away. "Jeez."

Sasuke walked towards his home and Naruto and Sakura walked the other way. "So what are you going to do Sakura-chan?" Sakura didn't answer when she suddenly turned around. "I need to ask Kakashi-sensei something." Naruto ran after her.

Sakura stopped and Naruto was about to talk to her, when his jaw dropped. In front of them Kakashi was making out with a girl. "What's the meaning of this!"

Sakura put her hand on his mouth. Naruto removed it. "What's the big idea?"

"Let them be." Sakura looked at the boy and saw that he was really pissed.

"Naruto. Why are you so angry?" Sakura asked when the boy walked away.

Naruto sat down near the river. She saw that he was about to explode. She put her hand on his shoulder to calm him down, but Naruto started to yell.

"What kind of teacher is he?! He thinks making out with his girl is more important than training? I can't believe it. I don't have time for this. I need to become stronger, or else they are going to kill me.

"Who's going to kill you?" Sakura asked him with a worried look. Naruto hit his own head. He couldn't tell her about Akatsuki. It would bring her in danger.

"I just need to train to become stronger. The thieves almost killed me and you guys. We need to get stronger!" He was surprised that he came up with a good excuse.

Sakura became confused and tried to calm him down by squeezing his hand. Naruto looked at her, but didn't calm down. "Why isn't he helping you out with your training? You can't keep up with Sasuke or me. He hasn't trained you a bit since we became team 7."

Sakura became a little sad, but she knew it was true.

Naruto looked to the girl and saw her mood change. "I'm sorry, Sakura-chan. I didn't mean it like that. But I'm just pissed that he just forgets about us."

"It's okay, Naruto."

"Well, I am going home. I'll see you again, Sakura-chan." Sakura closed her eyes when the boy walked away.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sasuke was walking home. He couldn't stand it. He hated the thought that Naruto was getting stronger then him. He felt the seal on the back of his neck. He heard something and turned around. He saw four people standing there. He looked at their forehead protectors and saw that they were sound ninja.

"What do you want?"

The four jumped down. "Orochimaru-sama wants you to come to him."

Sasuke raised his brow. "Why do I want to go to that guy?" He ran towards them and tried to kick on of them. Sasuke was surprised when they disappeared and he got a kick from behind. They next moment one of them was holding him upside down. He saw that the four sound nin had a curse seal, just like him.

"If you remain here, you will stay weak. Orochimaru-sama wants to train you. If you stay here, you will never become strong enough to beat Itachi."

Sasuke flinched by that name. The sound ninja threw him to a tree. "We'll be waiting outside the gate until night." They made some seals and disappeared.

Sasuke was lost in thought for a while. He remembered all the times that he has spend with his friends. He didn't want to admit it, but he saw Naruto as his best friend. But the image of his brother kept coming back. He saw his brother kill his parents and the rest of the clan. He saw his brother leaving him alive. He got angry.

"I will kill you!"  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sakura was still sitting by the river. It was dark outside now. She looked at the starts and was thinking of the boy she thought she knew.

'_I thought I knew him. I thought he was just an annoying kid, who was weak. But…he is really strong and he is nice.' _Sakura stood up and was walking home. '_Maybe I should become nicer to him. He deserves it.' _

She entered the main road from the forest and saw that someone was coming her way. She looked better and saw that it was Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke looked up, saw Sakura, and looked back down to the ground. Sakura saw that he had his backpack on his back.

"Where are you going, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke stopped for a second. "I'm going to Orochimaru."

Sakura flinched. "What? Why are you going to that guy? He killed the third and attacked us too."

Sasuke looked her in the eyes and she saw that he was angry. "Don't concern yourself with me anymore. From now on we will each go our own path." He started walking again.

Sakura started to cry. "Sasuke-kun, don't go. Aren't you happy here? Aren't we your friends? Me, Naruto and Kakashi-sensei. You have a lot of friends here. You can get stronger here too. Please don't go." Sasuke continued to walk. "If you don't stop now I'm going to scream!"

Sakura was about to scream when she felt pain in her stomach. She looked and saw Sasuke standing in front of her with a fist in her stomach.

"Shut up, you're annoying."

Sakura felt a tear falling out and she blacked out. '_Sasuke-kun…'_

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning the hokage was trying to drink some sake. She had worked all night and had to get a drink. She heard knocking on her door. '_Shoot.'_

She put away the sake and let the man enter.

"Tsunade-sama. I was walking to your office when I found Haruno Sakura lying on the ground of the main road."

The hokage nodded. "Why did you need to tell me this? I have got better things to do." _'Like drinking some sake.'_

The man continued to speak: "I woke her up and she told me that Uchiha Sasuke has left the village."

Tsunade shoot up. "What! Why did he leave?"

The man looked her in the eyes. "To go to Orochimaru."

Tsunade was shocked. '_Damn. Is he making his move already? I won't let the sharingan fall in his hands. But I don't have any jounin in the village, except those who are needed to protect the village.' _

"I've got no choice. Kotetsu, bring me Nara Shikamaru!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sakura was walking to the gate of the village. She overheard a conversation between the hokage and Shizune and hurried to the gate. She was surprised when she saw five of her friends standing there: Shikamaru, Neji, Kiba, Chouji and Naruto. _'Naruto…'_ They were about to leave.

"Wait!" She cried out to make them stop.

The five boys turned around.

Naruto looked to the girl. "Sakura-chan!"

Shikamaru put his hands in his pockets. "Sorry, I can't take you with me. The hokage told me that even you couldn't stop him."

Naruto flinched after those words and looked at the girl and saw that she was crying.

"Saku…"

Sakura didn't even listen to Naruto. "Naruto…please bring him back. I couldn't do it. I couldn't stop him. The only one who can stop him now, Naruto, is you."

Naruto saw that she was truly sad. _'She feels the same for him as I do for her. She must feel terrible. She doesn't love me, but I will do everything in my power to make her happy.'_

Naruto closed his eyes and put on a fake smile. "Sakura-chan likes Sasuke very much."

Sakura was shocked and her eyes widened.

"Right now, you're in pain. A pain I know well."

Sakura thought back at all the times she called Naruto annoying and she ignored him. She started to cry even more.

"Naruto….thank you."

Naruto gave her a big fake smile and put on his nice guy pose. "I'll bring back Sasuke. It's the promise of a lifetime."

Sakura continued to cry. '_He always knew, he always helped me. Naruto…'_

"Okay, let's go!" The rest nodded and they started running. Sakura looked through the tears and saw the boys leaving.

Next chapter: Naruto returns.


	5. Light and darkness

I finished another chapter. Thank for the nice reviews guys. It means a lot to me. I hope you keep reading the story.

"Hello": regular talking  
_'Hello'_: thinking

'**_Hello'_**: Inner Sakura and Kyuubi talking

Don't forget to R&R ;)

**Enjoy!**

Sakura was sitting on a bench in the park. She was feeling rather tired. She hadn't slept for two days now. '_How are Naruto and the others doing? I hope they can bring back Sasuke-kun. They have been gone for two days now.' _Sakura stood up and started to walk. She was walking next to the building of the hokage when she saw Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Kakashi saw the girl and looked down.

"Kakashi-sensei. Sasuke's…and now Naruto…"

Kakashi started to walk towards the gate and Sakura followed him.

"I've heard most of the story. I'm going to help them right now."

Sakura's eyes widened. '_Everyone is doing their best to bring him back. All I could do was cry.'_

"I'm going with you then." Kakashi was surprised.

"I don't know what I can do, but I want to something. I need to help them. I need to help Sasuke-kun and Naruto."

Kakashi gave her a quick smile and nodded. "We're going to run fast." Sakura nodded.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kakashi and Sakura have been running for almost a day now. Sakura was tired, but she did her best to keep up with her sensei. She looked at him and saw that he was looking weird. She was surprised by this, because the man almost never showed any emotion. She decided to ask him what was wrong.

"What's wrong, Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi didn't give her a look, but he did answer her: "Naruto and Sasuke are fighting. I can feel their chakra. We are close."

"Why are they fighting?" Sakura cried out. She couldn't believe it. Her two team mates were fighting. She had never seen the boys fight before, but she knew that they had wanted to fight each other for a long time.

Kakashi increased his speed. "I don't know, but their chakra levels are really high now. I don't know how they could have gotten this strong." Just then a shockwave came their way. Kakashi could hold his own, but Sakura was blown back a bit.

"What was that?" Sakura screamed. She held on to a tree with all her might. The wind subsided and she let go of the tree. She jumped over to her sensei and was shocked to see a horrified look on his face.

The jounin looked down. "Sasuke and Naruto just collided."

Sakura gave a worried look. '_That was a lot of chakra, this isn't good.'_

"It looks like that it was the final attack. The chakra levels are gone. They stopped fighting. I really can't tell if they're alive or not. I can't sense anything anymore. I really hope that we are not too late." Kakashi started to jump from branch to branch again.

Sakura's eyes widened. "Oh no. Please be okay, guys."

They jumped out of the forest and arrived at a river.

"We're here. This is the Valley of the End. How ironic that they would fight here out of all places." Sakura gave him a confused look. Kakashi saw this and gave her a smile.

"Let's look around." Kakashi headed left and Sakura walked to the right. '_Where are you guys?' _

Sakura suddenly felt a chakra signal. It was very weak, but she knew someone was close. She ran to the direction where she felt the feint chakra signal She looked around and saw something orange lying on the ground. Her eyes widened. _'No. It can't be.'_

She ran towards the orange blur. She fell on her knees next to the boy. She was shocked when she saw how bad the boy looked. His entire body was covered with blood, his clothes were torn apart and he had a big wound next to his heart. Tears started to dwell up.

"Naruto? Hey. Are you okay?"

She didn't get a response. She started to use her hands to shake him. The boy didn't move a bit and didn't make a sound. She couldn't take it anymore.

"Naruto. This isn't funny. Please just wake up. Naruto!" She started to cry on his chest.

Kakashi heard the screams of the girl and hurried her way. He landed behind her and watched the boy. His eyes widened and he fell down to his knees. He put his hand on the shoulder of the pink-haired girl.

"I'm sorry if I was too late." Sakura turned around and looked Kakashi straight in the eyes. Kakashi was shocked when he saw her face. Her eyes were really red and her cheeks were puffy from all the crying.

"It's my entire fault. He chased Sasuke because of me. If he hadn't made that stupid promise he would have been alive. Now I'll never see that stupid smile again, now he'll never be annoying again. It's all my fault!" She continued to cry and Kakashi decided to examine Naruto. He took his lifeless arm in his hand and used his other hand to feel a pulse. He kept quiet for a while, but suddenly his eyes opened.

"He's still alive! His heartbeat is faint, but it's there."

Sakura shot up from Naruto's chest and turned around. "Really! We need to help him! We need to get him back to Konoha fast." Kakashi picked up the boy and used his sharingan to look around. He couldn't sense anything and he knew what this meant. He looked on the ground and saw Sasuke's forehead protector with a big scratch on it. He picked it up and put it in his pocket. He then turned to Sakura and gave her a sad look

"I'm sorry. It seems that Sasuke has managed to escape."

Sakura looked down for a moment. "Right now, Naruto is more important." They nodded and started to run back to Konoha. '_Sasuke-kun…'_

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

'_Where, where am I? Everything is white. I must be dead. Heaven sure looks boring, I expected lovely angels, but this is it? How disappointing,'_ Naruto blinked and saw that he was in the hospital. He shot up. _'What…this isn't heaven.'_

"Naruto?"

Naruto looked to his right and saw that Shikamaru was sitting on a chair. Naruto became happy when he saw that his friend was okay.

"Shikamaru! You're okay!"

Shikamaru smiled, but waved with his hand. "Sshht." He pointed to the other side of the room. Naruto looked and saw that Sakura was sleeping in a chair.

"Sakura-chan?"

Shikamaru stood up and sat down on the bed. "She and Kakashi brought you back to Konoha. You have been operated and you nearly died. Somehow Tsunade-sama managed to save you. You've been sleeping the whole time and Sakura's been here the whole time. She fell asleep a few minutes ago for the first time since you returned."

Naruto kept his voice down. "How long was I gone?"

"You've been sleeping for three days straight."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Three days?" Naruto looked to the sleeping girl. She looked like an angel. _'Maybe this is heaven after all.'_ He couldn't believe that Sakura stayed with him the whole time. He gave her a small smile, but the smile lasted for only a second.

"How are the others?" He hadn't seen them since they all went to fight their own battles against the sound ninja. He was really worried.

Shikamaru looked to the ground. "I am okay, I just broke my finger. Kiba has a nasty wound, but he'll be okay. Neji and Chouji almost died. They are stable now, because of the medical ninjas here."

Naruto looked down with a sad expression on his face. "I'm glad."

"We are really lucky that the sand ninja came to our rescue."

Naruto looked up in surprise. "What do you mean?"

Shikamaru looked to the boy. "Oh yeah, you don't know. Gaara of the sand and his two siblings helped us to defeat our opponents. Without them we would have died for sure."

Naruto couldn't believe it. He thought back at the time that he battled Gaara and how the boy always acted. Shikamaru looked to the boy and was surprised to see a smile on his face.

"Gaara. You just keep surprising me."

Shikamaru stood up. "I'm going to see Chouji now. I'll come back later. Just get some sleep. It's troublesome, but even you need your sleep. See ya." Shikamaru closed the door behind him and left Naruto alone.

Naruto got a sad expression on his face. He looked to the small table that was next to his bed and saw the forehead protector with a scratch on it. He made that scratch in their last attack. He couldn't stop him. He started to become angrier by the minute. '_Sasuke. Why did you leave? Why did you leave her? I wasn't strong enough. He beat me. Why am I so weak? Damn it.'_

"Damn it!"

Naruto realised that he said it out loud. He put his hands in front of his mouth and prayed to the gods that the pink-haired girl didn't hear him. He looked to the chair and saw the girl move a little bit.

"Uuhhh"

The gods hated him. _'figures…'_

Sakura opened her eyes. She couldn't see anything. Everything was white. She blinked a few times and then looked again. She started to see something. She looked to the bed and saw that Naruto was sitting up. Her eyes shot completely open now and she shot up from her chair and ran over to the hospital bed.

"Naruto!? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Naruto looked down. He couldn't look her in the eyes. He knew that he failed. He knew that he failed to fulfil his promise. He was ashamed and couldn't face her.

"I'm sorry." He closed his eyes.

"I'm really sorry." He wanted to apologise more, but he suddenly felt something. He opened his eyes to see what was happening. He was shocked to see that Sakura had wrapped her arms around him. "Sakura-chan…?"

"Shut up, baka! You have done nothing to apologise for. I'm just glad that you're okay."

Naruto was confused, but he wrapped his arms around her too. He put his head on top of hers and inhaled some of her smell. _'She smells like strawberries.'_ He shook his head and let her go. He knew that this wasn't right. He couldn't take advantage of her when she was like this. He decided to say what he wanted to say to her before she hugged him.

"I'll bring him back. I told you that it's the promise of a lifetime!"

Naruto was stopped when Sakura hit him on the head. He looked her in the eyes and he saw that she was angry.

"Baka! That stupid promise almost got you killed. Forget about it."

Naruto rubbed his head and looked to the girl. "What about Sasuke then?" 

Sakura looked down. "He has gone to Orochimaru on his own free will. No one made him do it. He walked over to the dark side, because he wanted power. He hurt me; he even tried to kill you."

Naruto was confused. She had never talked about Sasuke like that before.

"I've been thinking about this for a very long time. Friends don't try to kill each other. The Sasuke I know wouldn't go to the dark side for power. The Sasuke I know is gone. _'Or maybe he was never there in the first place…'_ The guy who tried to kill you is just a pawn of Orochimaru."

Naruto tried to interrupt her, but she took his hand and he stopped talking. "I have thought about this for a long time, Naruto. It still hurts deep inside, but I know that I have made the right decision. You should do the same. Next time we meet him, we will be enemies. He is now a missing nin and an enemy to Konoha. How hard it may be for us, we need to prioritize our village."

Naruto was stupefied, but nodded.

"You're right, Sakura-chan. My dream is to become hokage. Nothing is more important than the village. But that's why I will not forget about him. He is a member of this village too. He's doing this because of his brother. He's so lost in the darkness that he can't see the light anymore. Next time that I meet him, I'll beat him and I'll show him what the power of friendship can do."

Sakura looked to the boy and he smiled. Sakura looked to the boy in awe. She had given up on Sasuke, but he still had hope. Even after he nearly killed him, he still had hope. A small tear fell out of her eye. Naruto's smile quickly disappeared when she hit him on the head again.

"Stop trying to do everything on your own! Next time, we'll do it together. It's a promise."

Naruto was surprised by this. He had never seen this side of Sakura before. He nodded and gave her a smile. There was a big silence after this. Naruto couldn't take it anymore and decided to break the silence.

"Sakura-chan. I heard from Shikamaru that you stayed with me the whole time. I know you are hurt because of Sasuke too. I just want to thank you for that. It really means a lot to me. You're really a good friend."

Sakura stood up and smiled at him. "That's what best friends do."

Naruto's smile couldn't have gotten any bigger. _'She sees me as her best friend. I must be the luckiest guy in the world right now.'_ Naruto saw that Sakura was pretty tired and sad. _'She must be tired. She has been here for three days. She should go home and get some rest.'_

"Sakura-chan. You should go home now. I need my rest if I want to get out of here fast and I know you could use a good night rest too. You look kind of bad too. Your hair is messed up and your eyes are blazing red."

Sakura hit him again, but harder this time. **'_Kill that bastard!' _**Inner Sakura was about to blow.

"Baka, I'm not the mummified one." Sakura walked to the door. "But, you're right. I've had my better days. You just rest and then I'll see you tomorrow. She gave him a quick smile and left. Naruto was confused. _'What did I say wrong now?'_

"You really don't understand women, do you?" Naruto turned around and saw an old man standing next to his bed.

"Ero-sennin! What are you doing here?"

"You're as noisy as ever. I think you are okay. I heard what happened. I'm sorry."

Naruto started to look sad, but the white-haired sannin started to speak again.

"But you've got other things to worry about too. I've been monitoring Akatsuki for a while now."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Akatsuki! Those guys again!"

"Those guys will be coming after you in three years. Orochimaru was a member of that organisation too. I don't know what their intentions are, but they seem to be after the thing that is sealed within you."

Naruto looked down and touched his stomach.

"You are too weak to defend yourself against the like of them now. So I'm going to train you one on one for two years. I will be teaching you a lot of techniques. You want to became hokage, right. As hokage you need to know a lot of techniques too, so be glad. I won't go easy on you; I'm going to train you to death." Naruto started to smile.

"We're not starting now though. I need to go around and gather some information first. So I'm going to come back in six months and then we will start the training."

Naruto started to sulk a little. "So what am I supposed to do now?"

Jiraiya started to laugh. I knew you'd ask. I want you to increase your chakra control. Your chakra control sucks at the moment. Sure, you've improved, but it still sucks. You have the potential to become great, kid. Once you learn how to master your chakra, you will become far more powerful. So I want you to focus on chakra control. When I come back I…I want you to be able to do the rasengan using one hand." Naruto looked surprised.

"You know how hard that is!? I have enough trouble with the rasengan as it is. How am I supposed to do it with one hand?"

"Yeah I know. It took me a few years to master it, but I'm sure you can do it. You have the potential to do wonderful things, Naruto. Just believe in yourself and everything will be fine. Well, I'm off. See ya in about six months."

He jumped out of the window. Naruto tried to call him back, but he was already gone. He tried to do some training in his bed, but everything in his body hurt. He gave up and fell asleep. He had a nice dream that included Sakura and his shadow clones that night.


	6. Chakra control

Hey guys. I finished another chapter. I really like this story myself. It's a long one. I hope you guys like it too. I am trying to make longer chapters from now on.

"Hello": regular talking  
_'Hello'_: thinking  
'**_Hello'_**: Inner Sakura and Kyuubi talking

Don't forget to R&R ;)

**Enjoy!**

Sakura was walking towards Naruto's room in the hospital. She had come to visit him every day and brought a flower with her each time. She now knew every nurse and doctor in the hospital. She enjoyed her visits to Naruto. They have talked about a lot of things. He helped her to smile again. She always became happy when she saw him do something stupid again. She was walking with a flower in her hand now too. She was a little irritated though.

'_Damn that Ino-pig. Why does that girl have to be in charge of the only flower shop in Konoha? She thinks I'm in love with a boy, only because I bring him flowers. She must be irritated that Shikamaru rejected her proposal to go on a date. So she thinks that she will feel better if she pesters me with Naruto. No matter what Ino thinks, I will bring him flowers. He deserves it.'_

Sakura opened the door to his room, hoping to find the injured boy. He lied in room number ten. It was the largest room in the hospital. Sakura thought it must have been the work of the hokage. She knew that the hokage had a soft spot when it came to Naruto. He had told her that they had fought Orochimaru and Kabuto together and that Naruto had almost died then. He said that Tsunade saved him then. _'I need to thank her for that sometime.'_ She broke out of her thoughts and walked into the room.

"Hey, Naru…" She looked around, but only found an empty bed. She thought that he must have gone to the toilet. She waited for a while, but Naruto never came. She opened the door to the toilet and found out that the room was empty. Sakura got worried and ran out of the room. She saw a nurse and asked her where he had gone.

The nurse was lost in thought for a while, but finally spoke up. "Naruto-kun. He was completely healthy, so we let him go." The nurse gave her a gentle smile. "He really heals quite fast."

Sakura flipped. "There's no way that he is alright already. He was injured very badly. He should have stayed in the hospital for at least a week more. Do you know where he has gone!?" She gave the nurse a scary look and the nurse took a few steps backwards.

The nurse was thinking and Sakura was getting impatient. She hit the wall behind her and the nurse became very scared now. **_'Hurry up, slowpoke!' _**

"I don't know where he is, but he did mention something about training." Sakura calmed down and sighed. She thanked the nurse and walked past her. The nurse fell down on her knees when Sakura was out of sight. "I feel sorry for the boy. That girl is dangerous."

Sakura walked out of the hospital and sat down on a bench. She couldn't believe that he was okay already. She was glad that he was okay, but she didn't understand that he could heal so fast. She decided to ask him about that later. She needed to find him now first.

"Where is that baka?" She thought back at all the times she and Naruto talked. It wasn't hard, because before Sasuke left, they almost never talked. She closed her eyes and tried to think of something he said. Almost instantly a cup of ramen came to her mind. He talked about ramen a lot. _'What would Naruto do? Of course. Training.'_ She stood up and walked to the edge of town.

"That's it. He must be there!" Sakura walked to the river. She knew that he had to be there. He told her that it was his favourite training spot. He told her that someone trained him there for a while and that he became a lot stronger then. Since then he would always come there for his training. She was almost there and looked around. She saw that a lot of trees in the area were destroyed.

'_What happened out here?' _

She heard something and rushed to the place. 'You're not telling me that he is fighting. What if Orochimaru is here? Oh no, I've got to hurry.' She pushed away some bushes and saw Naruto. He was sweating and she saw that he had trouble breathing. All the trees around him were destroyed. She didn't see an enemy. '_Did he do this?' _She was about to call out to him when she saw him fall down.

"Naruto!" She started to run towards the boy. She even used chakra to increase her speed_. 'I knew it. He's not completely healed yet. That stupid nurse. I'm going to kill her.'_ She sat down and she put his head on her lap.

"Naruto, are you okay?"

Naruto looked up and saw his dream girl and started to smile.

"Hey Sakura-chan. Yeah, I'm okay. I used up to much chakra while I was training. I'm just exhausted. Nothing for you to worry about."

Sakura became angry. "Don't do that, you fool! You could die if you use up too much chakra. Didn't they teach us that at the academy!? You really need to be careful, especially now. You're not completely healthy yet, so you need to take it easy for a while."

Naruto tried to stand up, but he fell again. Sakura caught him and saw that Naruto was blushing a little bit. Sakura sighed and helped him to get up. He was standing now, but she saw that he could fall down any minute.

"I'm okay now, Sakura-chan. I can walk."

Sakura still wasn't reassured. She knew that he always lied and that he always put on a fake smile to reassure everyone. Sakura knew him long enough though. She had learned to see through the lies and smiles. "I'm going to walk you home. I don't want you to fall down somewhere." Naruto tried to tell her otherwise, but Sakura gave him an angry look and Naruto nodded. They walked back at a slow pace and Sakura was watching Naruto the whole time. He almost fell down a few times, but she was there to catch him. She decided that she would put his arm around her neck. Naruto looked at her with an appreciative look and Sakura just smiled.

"I wanted to talk to you about something, Sakura-chan. In about six month I'm going to leave the village for a while."

Sakura stopped walking and her eyes widened. She let go of the boy and he fell on his face immediately. Naruto got up again and gave her a confused look. Sakura was looking at him with sad eyes.

"Why!?"

"Do you know who Jiraiya is?" Sakura nodded. Of course she knew who that guy was. She had seen his name is a lot of books. "One of the three students of the third hokage, right? He is supposed to be one of the strongest ninja alive. After Orochimaru left Konoha, he left too. He never returned to Konoha."

"Yeah. Well, he has returned a while ago. He trained me before the chuunin exams and he was with me when we went to get the old hag. After you left a few days ago, he came to my room and told me a lot. He's going to train me one on one for two years. I can't tell you the reason, but you will find out eventually."

Sakura didn't understand. "Why can't you tell me? You can trust me. I won't tell anyone."

"I know, but if I tell you this, I might bring you in danger." Sakura became more worried and confused now. _'He's always thinking about others. Why does that stupid fool have to be so damn nice? He should just tell someone about his problems.'_

Sakura wanted to ask Naruto a lot more about this, but she decided to listen to Naruto and she kept quiet.

"I also wanted to ask you something. I know that you are very good with chakra control. You showed me that with the tree climbing." Sakura nodded. She remembers that day like no other. She made it to the top in one go, while Naruto and Sasuke only made it after a few days. She was so proud that day. She also remembered that Naruto complimented her on that, while Sasuke seemed irritated by it. She sighed. _'I've really ignored him, huh. He was always there for me; I was just too stupid to see him…'_

"I need to get better with my chakra control. Do you want to help me with my training? I really need your help."

Sakura looked happy. She had always been the weakest member of team 7. She wanted to be acknowledged. In her childhood she was never acknowledged. She was always made fun of and she hated it. She wanted to get stronger too. Naruto was much stronger than she was and that's why she was happy that he asked her for help.

"Sure, I'll help you. I've got nothing better to do. Kakashi-sensei will be away for quite a while anyway. Tsunade-sama said that he will be away for at least six months. So I've got nobody to train me. And I hate it when I have to train on my own. It gets so damn boring."

Naruto gave the girl a big smile. "I hate training alone too. So why don't we just train together for a while. I can learn things like chakra control from you and I can help you raise your stamina. What do you say, Sakura-chan? I would really enjoy your company."

Naruto expected a blow to his head and an angry Sakura for even suggesting something like that. He put his hands in front of him to block an incoming blow. She exploded before when he had asked her to train together, so why should this time be different. To his surprise the blow never came.

"That sounds like a great idea, Naruto."

Naruto couldn't believe it. _'She said yes? That was unexpected.' _Naruto almost jumped and Sakura was so shocked by this that she jumped back and let Naruto go. Naruto was still too tired to stand on his own legs, so he fell down to his knees. Sakura ran to the boy and stretched out her hand. "I'm sorry. You scared me a bit. Here, grab on. Time to get you home." They finally arrived at his apartment after a long walk. Naruto opened his door and turned around one more time.

"Thanks for walking me home. I really don't think that I would have made it without you. Then I guess I'll see you tomorrow. I usually start my training around six in the morning. So get a good night rest. I want to do a lot of training. I want to surprise that pervert when he comes back."

Sakura flinched. "Six in the morning? That's damn early." Sakura had never been a morning person. She destroyed an alarm clock almost every day. And she's always very cranky when her mother wakes her up. She's always very angry at Kakashi when he lets them come to a place early in the morning and that he is late himself. She could kill him when he does something like that.

'_**A girl needs her beauty sleep. Convince him to start later. I need my sleep. Shannaro!'**_

"Is it alright if we start the training a little later? Like, around seven in the morning? I really need some sleep. I haven't slept very well the last few days, so I need all the sleep that I can get." She asked him with puppy dog eyes. She knew that he would listen to her if she looked at him like that. She knew that he had a crush on her, so she might as well make use of it.

"How can I say no to those eyes?" He laughed. "Then I will see you at seven. I will pick you up, okay?" Sakura nodded. **_'Nobody can resist me!'_**

Sakura turned around and started to walk home. "See ya."

Naruto closed his door. _'I'm going to train with Sakura-chan. This is great. Now I can finally show her that I'm much better than Sasuke. This is my chance.'_

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Naruto was walking towards Sakura's home. It was almost seven o 'clock and he was ready for some training. He had been ready since six o'clock, but he didn't mind. If Sakura-chan needed some rest, he would give her some extra rest. He would do anything for her. He used the free time to do some sit-ups and push-ups. He arrived at the Haruno residence and knocked on the door. It wasn't Sakura who opened though.

Standing before him was a beautiful pink-haired woman. _'So Sakura-chan will look like that when she is older. Not bad at all. I could get used to that. Although I don't like the expression on her face. She gives me the same look as the rest.' _Naruto looked away and greeted the woman.

"Hello, Haruno-san."

Sakura's mother became angry the moment she saw who was there. She had hated Naruto for a long time. Her husband was killed by the Kyuubi when it attacked the village about 12 years ago. The monster had almost killed her too, but she managed to survive. When her daughter became a genin, she was very happy. But when Sakura told her that she was in the same team as Naruto and Sasuke, she flipped. She had tried to convince her daughter to change teams, but she didn't want to change teams. The hokage said that the teams couldn't be changed anymore and she gave up. But this was the first time that the Kyuubi kid was standing in front of her. She had never talked to him before. If looks could kill, Naruto would have died a thousand times by now. After a minute of silence she finally decided to speak.

"Why are you here? Go away. Leave me and me daughter alone, you monster!"

Naruto became sad the moment she called him a monster. He was used to it, but that didn't make it any better. He remembered all the times that the people neglected, shunned and even hurt him. If it weren't for Iruka-sensei, he would probably not be standing here. He would have ended up like Gaara, no doubt. He was about to walk away when he heard a familiar voice.

"Shut up, mother! Naruto isn't a monster. He's my best friend. I don't know why you keep on calling him a monster. He hasn't done anything to you. You haven't even talked to him once. So why do you think that you can call him a monster. He has saved my life many times and I really trust him. We are going to spend a lot of time together from now on, so you'll have to put up with him."

Sakura walked past her mother and joined Naruto. Sakura's mother gave them an angry look and closed the door. Naruto was surprised and turned to Sakura. He thought it was his fault that she and her mother were fighting. He was even more surprised when he saw that Sakura had a satisfied look on her face.

"You didn't have to do that for me, Sakura-chan." He said with a sad tone.

"Yes, I did have to do that. I hate it when my mother treats you like some kind of monster. It's not like you're a monster. She doesn't know anything about you. It makes me so mad. And I get even angrier when I think that I used to treat you almost as bad. I am going to make it up to you, Naruto, I promise. " She gave him a big smile.

Naruto became very happy. _'She is so nice. But she doesn't know that I really am a monster. When she finds out that I am the Kyuubi container…then.'_ He decided to stop thinking about the future and to focus on the here and now.

"Thank you, Sakura-chan." She saw that he was looking at her with a genuine smile. She felt a weird sensation in her stomach and smiled back. _'What is this feeling?'_ They started to walk to the training area. Sakura looked around and saw that everyone was looking at Naruto. That alone would have been fine, but they gave him cold looks, looks of hatred. She hadn't noticed this before. Normally when she walked through the village with Naruto, Sasuke would be there too. She was focused on Sasuke too much to see all these gazes, but now that she did see them, she became worried. _'Damn it, just how lost was I…'_

"Naruto, why are all those people looking at you?"

Naruto looked down with a sad face. He had hoped that she wouldn't see it, but she did. "Don't let it bother you, Sakura-chan. It's always like this. It even used to be worse. Some people have stopped looking at me with those evil eyes. I've gotten used to it. If you let it bother you, life is hell."

Sakura saw that he was lying. "But why? Did you do something to make them angry? And don't you lie to me."

"I can't tell you. It is something that you are not supposed to know. Just don't worry about it, okay. I'll tell you when the time is right."

Sakura wanted to know what he was hiding, but she gave in. "Okay, but tell me when you are ready." Naruto increased his speed and Sakura knew that it was something serious. She decided to increase her speed now too.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Naruto was running very fast and Sakura had trouble keeping up. He looked behind him and gave her a big smile. He saw that she was heaving trouble breathing. He decided to provoke her a little. "Hey, hurry it up, slowpoke!"

Sakura clenched her fist and suddenly moved faster than him. After a few minutes she was running in his step and gave him a satisfied look. He gave her a smile in return. This annoyed Sakura even more. "Shut up. Who's the slowpoke now?" She used chakra to move even faster. She didn't look back, but saw that he had an even bigger smile on his face now.

They arrived at the river and Naruto dropped his backpack and walked over to Sakura. He had a serious look on his face. Sakura hadn't seen this face often. She decided to pay attention to what he was going to say. _'He looks kind of cute when he is serious. What…what am I saying? This is Naruto I am talking about.'_

"Sakura-chan. I told you that I needed to improve my chakra control. I need to do that because I have to complete a jutsu: the rasengan. This is a really strong move and it requires a lot of chakra control."

Sakura shook her head and became confused. "You never used a jutsu with the name 'rasengan' before. I have never heard about that jutsu before in my life. What kind of jutsu is it: Ninjutsu, taijutsu or genjutsu?"

"Oh yeah, that's true. I never showed you the jutsu before."

Sakura looked confused when he made the cross seal and a kage bunshin. The clone moved closer to the original Naruto and he started moving his hands above the hand of the real one. Sakura could see that a tiny ball was beginning to form in his hand. Her eyes widened a little bit. The ball became bigger and bigger. The kage bunshin disappeared and Naruto walked over to her with the ball of energy in his hand.

"This is the rasengan." Sakura's eyes were really big now. She remembers that he used it one time when they were fighting the thieves. She didn't remember quite how strong the move was, because she wasn't really paying attention when he used it then. She moved her head close to the ball of energy and took a few steps back when a bit of chakra hit her nose.

"So how strong is this jutsu?" She said while she touching her nose.

Naruto just smiled at her and began to run towards a tree. He pulled back his hand and then trusted it into the tree. There was a big explosion. A lot of smoke came Sakura's way and she used her arms to block her face. She heard something fall and decided to open her eyes again. Sakura looked at the tree when the smoke cleared. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped.

"What the hell?"

The tree was cut in two and the top had fallen on the ground. Sakura couldn't believe it. If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn't have believed it. She didn't know that there was a jutsu this strong. She was even more surprised with the fact that her friend was the one who performed the jutsu. She had seen the power of the chidori, but this move looked even stronger.

"That jutsu is so strong! Who taught it you and how does it work?"

Naruto was proud. The girl he loved complimented him. He tried to hide his blush by looking the other way. "Ero-sennin taught it to me when we were getting Tsunade-baachan."

"Who is ero-sennin?" Sakura asked confused. She had never heard that name before.

"Jiraiya. He likes to look at women and peek at them at the bathing house. So I decided to call him 'Ero-sennin'. According to him the third was a pervert too. He used to go peeking too."

Sakura just laughed for a bit. "So he's a pervert. I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for the warning. If he gets near me, I'll kill him. So how does the jutsu work?"

Naruto started to explain. "I just collect some chakra in my hand and then I make it spinning really fast. I then contain it into the shape of a ball and the rasengan is the result. You need a lot of chakra control to contain it. I now need a clone to keep the chakra in place, but I need to get better chakra control, so that I can make one using only one hand."

Sakura let everything flow into her head. "I had no idea, but if that's all there is to it. Chakra control is not so tough. You need to concentrate on your chakra a lot. You just have to think how and where you want to use your chakra and then concentrate a lot. Just think back at the tree climbing. You needed to focus your chakra on your feet. Now it gets a little harder. You need to focus your chakra above your hand and you have to imagine the shape of a ball. Then you need to concentrate a lot and form a thin layer of chakra in the shape of that ball. Then you spin the chakra within that layer. At least that's what I think."

"That sounds right. I never thought about that before. Let's give it a try."

Sakura stood next to the boy and looked closely to his hand. He closed his eyes. Sakura saw that his hand was glowing. Naruto concentrated and opened his eyes. He began to spin the chakra and the rasengan started to appear. The chakra seemed to stay within the ball form for a few seconds, but then the form started to change. Naruto lost control and the chakra began flying everywhere. Sakura's dress was blown up and she put it down again with her hands.

"Baka! Watch it!"

'_**Kill him. Kill him. Kill him!!!'**_

He looked at his hand and then looked at her. "It went much better than before. I think I got it, but the control slipped after a few seconds. I think I can do it if I practice a lot. Thanks Sakura-chan. I never would have gotten this far without you."

Sakura calmed down again and she blushed a little. "Thank you, Naruto." She had never felt this proud before in her life. For the first time in her life she had really helped someone and it felt really good. Sakura looked at Naruto for a while. She was really taken back by that jutsu. She knew that she knew only basic jutsu and she wanted to become stronger, so that meant that she needed to learn more jutsu too.

"Do you think that I can learn that jutsu too?"

Naruto turned to the girl. He thought for a while and didn't quite know how to say this to her.

"I'm going to be honest with you. You do have the chakra control for the rasengan, but you don't have enough chakra and stamina. You need to work on those first and maybe then I can teach it to you. According to Ero-sennin, there are only three people who know the rasengan. So I think the move is hard to master."

Sakura looked down. She already knew that he would answer like that. She knew she was weak and this proved it. All her life people had called her weak. She was always bullied on when she was small and even after she became a ninja, she was still weak. She always needed to be protected. Sakura became depressed. "I'm just too weak. That's it huh."

"No, I know you're anything but weak, Sakura-chan!" She was surprised with his reaction. "You think you are weak, but you really are not. You doubt yourself too much and it influences you. You just don't have much stamina and chakra, because you haven't trained enough. And we're going to work on that now. So, cheer up and let's begin training."

Sakura looked to the boy and saw that he was smiling. She began to feel happy. She didn't believe in herself, but he did believe in her. _'Now that I think about it, I tend to skip training. No wonder that I don't have stamina. Well, things are going to change from now on. Naruto, I am going to show you the new Sakura.'_

"Yeah, let's begin."

"I want to see how strong you are now, Sakura-chan. So you have to try and hit me. I am going to try and evade your attacks. If you can hit me, I'll treat you, but if you can't hit me you'll have to treat me. So come at me with everything you got. I'm going to give it everything I got too, because I'm very hungry."

Sakura nodded and lunged to him. "Here I come!"

Sakura tried a kick, but Naruto simply jumped up. Sakura then tried an uppercut while he was in the air. '_Got him. He can't dodge in the air.' _To her surprise Naruto was gone when she tried to hit him. "What the hell. Where are you, Naruto?" She looked and looked, but she couldn't find him. _'He couldn't have disappeared, can he? Come on, Sakura. Focus!'_

"Behind you." She turned around and shrieked. Naruto stood behind her with a scary face. He was laughing hard.

"Damn you, baka. You scared me with that little stunt. You're going to pay!"

He became a little scared now. Sakura's eyes were usually green and beautiful, but now they became weird. The pupils disappeared and only white eyes remained. He knew what that meant. She was mad. He had seen her a few times like this before and it always meant trouble. Most of the times he would end up in the hospital, when she became like this.

"**_Shannaro! I'm going to kill you, baka!"_**

Sakura became faster and she was kicking and punching everywhere. Naruto had trouble evading her attacks. _'How did she get so fast all of a sudden?' _Naruto turned around and saw that the river was behind him. She saw this too and ran straight to him. '_I got him this time. There's no place to run.'_

Naruto jumped backwards and landed on the water. He was panting a little and was really surprised with her. He prepared his battle stance and was waiting for her to come. To his confusion, she never came. He looked to her and saw that she was staring at him with big green eyes.

"Naruto?" The girl said slowly.

"What's wrong? You are doing great, Sakura-chan." Naruto became more confused now. He didn't understand why she suddenly stopped attacking him. Especially since she was doing so great at the moment.

"You….you are standing on water…" Sakura said dumbfounded.

Naruto looked down and gave Sakura a confused look once more. "Yeah. What's wrong with that?" He didn't know why she was making such a big deal out of this. He thought it was natural to walk on water.

Sakura shook her head. "It's impossible. How can you walk on water? Kakashi-sensei never taught it to us. I can't do it."

"You can't walk on water? Oh yeah. Ero-sennin taught it to me. Sasuke could do it too when I fought him. Kakashi-sensei must have taught him that while he was training Sasuke for the chuunin exams. I guess that you're the only one who hasn't learned it yet."

Sakura frowned and turned around. '_And again it shows that I'm just weak; that I'm always in the way.' _Naruto saw that the girl was becoming a bit sad. "I didn't mean it like that Sakura-chan. I'm sorry. Don't get depressed." He saw that it didn't help one bit.

There was a big silence for a while. Naruto finally decided to speak up to break it: "Well, stamina and chakra training will have to wait for now." Sakura looked up in confusion. "Because we're going to teach you how to walk on water first." He said with a big grin on his face.

Sakura started to smile too. "Thanks!"

"I think that you can better go home first. I don't think you want to do this in your usual clothes. I think it would be better if you do it in your swimsuit. You're probably going to fall in the water a few times. I fell in numerous times, but your chakra control is much better than mine. So this should be pretty easy for you." Sakura felt proud because of the compliment he gave her.

"Okay, I'm going to change. Be right back." She ran back to the village and entered her home. She opened her closet. There were at least five swimsuits in the closet. _'Which one should I choose? I think I'll choose this one. Naruto would love it.'_

'**_Yeah, we look so damn sexy in this one. I can't believe you chose this one. It's only Naruto we're talking about. I think you like him.' _**Inner Sakura said.

"Just shut up!" She bound and gagged her inner self and put on her swimsuit. She put on her jacket and ran down the stairs. She saw her mother looking at her with an angry face and she gave her mother an angry look back. She then opened the door and ran down the street.

Naruto used his free time to practice his rasengan. He concentrated and formed a thin layer of chakra above his hand. The rasengan started to form and he smiled. He did it. After five seconds though the rasengan became unstable again and he had to let go of the chakra. He almost fell down because of the chakra that went flying everywhere.

"This is pretty hard. I've got to practice this a lot. Thank you, Sakura-chan. I don't know what I would do without you." He started to gather energy in his hand again.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sakura returned an hour later and saw that Naruto was breathing heavily.

"What's wrong, Naruto. Why are you so tired?"

Naruto caught his breath and started talking without turning around. "I was practising the rasengan. I think I've almost got it. You certainly took your time changing."

He turned around and his eyes widened. He saw the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Sakura was standing there with a red swimsuit with pink flowers on it. Naruto kept staring at her. Sakura saw this and walked up to the boy and hit him on the head. She was angry now.

"Pervert! Don't stare. Teach me the water walking."

Naruto shook his head. "Sorry. You remember the tree climbing, right. You needed to use your chakra to stick to the tree. A tree is solid, but the water isn't. So you have to change the amount of chakra you sent down the whole time to keep standing on it. At least, that's what Ero-sennin told me. I didn't get it, so I just decided to try and try. I always learn with my body instead of my mind. It worked after a while."

"Okay. I think I get it." She walked to the water and put her foot on it. She focused her chakra and put her other foot on the water too. She took a few steps. She fell down almost every time, but she was doing it. Naruto looked in awe. He was amazed that she was doing so well on her first try. He really was jealous of her chakra control.

"Look, Naruto." The moment she said it, she fell down into the water. She swam up and when she came above water, she saw that Naruto was laughing. She felt ashamed and her cheeks became red. She swam to the side and was surprised when Naruto stretched out his hand to help her out. She smiled and grabbed his hand. He pulled her out.

"You did great Sakura-chan. I remember my first try. I fell down with the first step I took. You really are great. I wish I was so good with chakra control."

Sakura blushed a little. She liked it when someone gave her a compliment._ 'Damn it. Pull it together, Sakura. You blushed too often today in front of him. Don't give him any ideas.'_

"You just need to practise this a few times." Sakura nodded and walked to the water again.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was now three hours later and Sakura had practised the whole time. She was dancing on the water and even jumped a few times. Naruto saw this and was really proud of her_. 'She mastered it in three hours, she really is a natural. I envy you, Sakura-chan, but I am really happy too. You have the potential to do great things later.'_

"Great job, Sakura-chan!"

Sakura was really happy and ran back to Naruto. She was so focused on Naruto that she didn't see a rock and she tripped. She closed her eyes and fell down. She expected a hard landing, so she braced herself. To her surprise she landed on something soft. She slowly opened her eyes and saw that she had landed on top of Naruto. She started to laugh.

"Sorry about that." She said in a playful manner. She looked at Naruto and saw that he was becoming redder by the second.

"What's wrong, Naruto?" Naruto was blazing red now.

"Sakura-chan, please put your clothes back on." She looked to her body and saw that she was lying on top of Naruto in her swimsuit. She jumped up and blushed.

"Baka. Couldn't you have told me sooner!"

'_**Kill. Kill. Kill!'**_

The last thing Naruto saw was the fist of a flaming Sakura.


	7. The chuunin exam

I finished another long chapter for you guys. Thank again for the nice reviews. I know m grammar isn't perfect. If you find any huge mistakes, don't hesitate to let me know. I'll be silent now and let you guys read the story now

"Hello": regular talking  
_'Hello'_: thinking  
'**_Hello'_**: Inner Sakura and Kyuubi talking

Don't forget to R&R ;)

**Enjoy!**

Naruto threw a punch at Sakura and she easily dodged it. They had been training for four months now and Naruto saw Sakura improving every day. Sakura had become really fast and Naruto even had to try now. He even used his kage bunshin and Sakura did a great job by defending herself. They were both dirty and tired. Both had taken a lot of damage now, but in the end Sakura was the one who gave up. She fell down to her knees and had trouble breathing.

"Wow. You are really something else, Naruto. I can't believe that I once thought that you were the weakest ninja of all times." Naruto dropped his head by that sentence. "But I was wrong. You are really strong."

Naruto felt proud. "I even had to use my kage bunshin on you, Sakura-chan. You have really improved. But I have one question. Don't you have a signature attack moves?" Sakura looked down. "My family doesn't have a signature move. The only thing that is passed down is this stupid pink hair."

"Stupid? I like your hair." Naruto said with a smirk on his face.

Sakura flinched. "You really think so?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, it fits your eyes." Sakura didn't know it herself, but she was blushing a bit. She loved it when someone complimented her.

"Naruto, I have a question. Can you teach me the kage bunshin? I want to at least know one good jutsu."

"I don't know. It is my special move, but you're my team mate, so why not." Sakura was happy that he trusted her enough to teach her the kage bunshin. "You just make the cross seal and the rest is practically the same as the normal bunshin." He made the cross seal and made one clone. "You envision how many clones you want and then perform the jutsu. The jutsu is very chakra consuming. So don't use it if you're very low on chakra."

"Okay. I'm good at the normal bunshin." Sakura looked at her hands and made the cross seal. "Kage bunshin no jutsu!" There was a puff of smoke. Sakura watched, but she didn't see a clone. She looked to the ground and saw a failed clone lying on the ground. Naruto and the failed clone both sweat dropped. "Damn. Why doesn't it work?" She fell down on the ground.

"You have used up too much chakra in the training. We better go eat something first. Let's go to Ichiraku." Sakura nodded and stood back up. They started to walk back to the village.

The streets were very crowded. Naruto looked around and saw a lot of people who he had never seen before. They seemed to be ready for battle any minute. He didn't know what to make out of it. The arrived at the ramen shop and saw that all the seats were taken. Naruto started to cry and Sakura sweat dropped. Naruto wiped away his tears and started walking towards Sakura when he saw a poster. He walked over to the poster and stared at it for a few seconds

"Hey, Sakura-chan. There will be another chuunin exam in two weeks." Sakura walked over to the poster. "That brings back memories." Sakura thought back at the last chuunin exam. She had participated with Naruto and Sasuke. They had become a lot stronger during the exam, but the trouble had started there too. Sakura flinched when she thought back at the moment Orochimaru appeared. He put the curse seal on Sasuke and he ruined the whole exam. The sound invasion followed and Sasuke walked over to the other side. Everything went wrong because of one man. Sakura clenched her fist, but Naruto didn't see it.

Naruto started to pout a little. "I still can't believe Shikamaru was the only one to become a chuunin. He was the only one who gave up and his battle skills aren't all that great. He got a good set of brains, but that shouldn't be enough to become chuunin. I was much better than he was at that exam."

Naruto thought for a bit. He wanted to become hokage as soon as possible. And chuunin was one step closer to his dream. He had improved a lot since last time and he was sure that he could make it this time. He looked to his friend and saw that she was looking at the poster intensively. "Why don't we try it?"

Sakura was surprised. "Do you think we are ready for it? It has only been half a year since last time. I tied with Ino last time and she was one of the weakest fighters back then."

"We did pretty well last time and we are much stronger now. We haven't been training for nothing these last few months, have we? I'm sure we can both make it." He intentionally said 'both', because he knew that Sakura still wasn't sure of herself.

"But we don't have a three man team anymore. It's just the two of us. How can we enter the exam with only two people?" Naruto thought for a bit again. "Let's go ask the hag. She might know what we can do." Naruto knew that she had a soft spot for him. She believed that he would one day become hokage; the necklace around his neck was proof of that. He opened his jacket and took the necklace in his hand. He looked at it for a few seconds and then closed his hand. "I'm sure she will help us." Sakura agreed and they started to walk to the biggest building in the village: the tower of the hokage.

They had been walking up stairs for a long time and they finally reached the top. The both rested for a while and walked to the chamber of the hokage. They knocked on the door. They got no answer. Naruto became angry and opened the door. Sakura tried to stop him, but it was too late. "Hey old hag." Tsunade looked up from her paper work and saw that Naruto entered her room.

Tsunade became angry. "How many times did I tell you to stop calling me that?!" Sakura became a little scared. She hadn't seen someone as hot tempered as her before. _'Am I the same as her? Now I understand why Naruto is scared of me sometimes.'_

"So what do you want?" She said it while she continued her paper work.

"Sakura-chan and I want to enter the chuunin exam. But Kakashi-sensei is gone and we're only with the two of us. I was hoping that you could do something and help us enter. We think we are ready for this."

"I can let you guys enter. It will be though with just the two of you, though. You will get a handicap during the first exam, but I can't help you after that. You guys then have to do the 2nd exam with just the two of you. It will be though, are you sure you want to go through with it?" Naruto looked to Sakura. She nodded with a smile. "We are sure."

"Okay. You have to be at the entrance of the academy in 14 days from now at 6 in the morning. The exam will be almost the same as last time. This time however not many people are entering. The final rounds will be right after the forest of death this time, so don't waste all of your energy. I know you can do it, Naruto. You are going to become hokage one day, so this should be a piece of cake for you." She gave the boy a smile and returned to her paper work again, but Naruto saw that Sakura looked a bit sad.

"Sakura-chan and I are both going to become a chuunin. You might want to pay a lot attention to her too during the exam. She will surprise you." Sakura looked to the boy and saw that he gave her a smile. Sakura smiled back and whispered 'thank you'.

They trained a lot in the two weeks before the exam. Sakura and Naruto both felt like they were getting a lot stronger by training together. "Let me try the kage bunshin now." Sakura made the cross seal: "Kage bunshin no jutsu!" There was some smoke and when the smoke cleared, Naruto could see two clones. "You did it!"

Sakura smiled, but fell on the ground with her knees. "This jutsu costs me a lot of chakra, even with my control. How are you able to make so many? I'm beat and I only made two of them, even with my increase of chakra and stamina. You must posses a giant amount of chakra to make that many."

"Kakashi-sensei told me that I have a huge amount of chakra. He told me that I even have at least tow times as much as him. I don't know why I have this much, but you don't see me complaining. I must be because I'm so good."

Sakura sweat dropped and got up. "Well, I guess that this will be my secret move and I will only use it if I really have to." Naruto nodded.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sakura woke up and looked around. She got a headache because of her alarm clock and threw it out of her window. She heard someone yell. She hurried to the window and looked down. She saw Naruto lying on the ground with a bump on his head. The alarm clock was lying next to him. Sakura immediately ducked and went back to her bed. If she knew Naruto, he would come to her window to come get her. A few seconds later she heard ticking on her window and she slowly opened her eyes. "Good morning, Naruto." She couldn't suppress a giggle.

Naruto was as dense as someone could be and he really believed that she just woke up. "Morning. Some asshole just threw an alarm clock on my head. If I find that bastard, I'm going to make him pay." Sakura got scared and didn't say anything. She walked over to the shower and changed into her battle outfit. She came back in her room and saw Naruto looking around. "What's wrong, Naruto?"

He picked up the picture of team 7. He saw that she always kept it close to her bed. "Just thinking back, you know. It has been a while since we took this picture. Sasuke and me didn't like it one bit and were about to fight that day. You had to pull us apart, remember?" Sakura nodded.

"That was a nice day. Things shouldn't have changed. We had our differences, but above all, we had fun. But it is too late now to dwell in the past. We need to focus on today. We need to pass this exam and show everyone what we can do."

Naruto put the photo down and walked over to Sakura. He gave her a glance and walked down the stairs. He decided to use the door this time. Sakura watched him leave. _'He's taking this harder than I thought. He does see him as his brother.' _When he got down, he saw her mother in the kitchen. He decided to sneak by, so that she couldn't see him. He knew she hated him and he didn't want to have an argument today. He opened the door and did his victory dance when he was outside.

"Wait up, Naruto!" Sakura yelled. Naruto looked behind him and saw that her mother ran to the door. _'Thanks a lot, Sakura-chan…' _He grabbed Sakura's hand and jumped onto the rooftops. He managed to get away just in time. He knew that she would hit him for grabbing her hand, but he knew it would be better than another face-off with her mother. He was surprised when she strengthened her hold on his hand. He quickly turned his face to her and saw that she was smiling. _'Well, this is weird. Sakura-chan has been acting quite weird lately. Maybe she's sick or something?'_

They arrived at the academy and entered the room where the first exam was about to be held. He looked around and saw that there were less people than last time. A lot of the genin were from his own village. The other countries must be afraid, since they know what happened last time. He saw team Gai, but he didn't recognise the rest. He thought it was much to quiet around here and decided to make himself known to all the genin. "Hey! I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I'm going to beat all of you guys! Believe it!" Naruto felt good after saying that and looked around to see all the genin look at him with a confused look. He now braces himself. He still remembered what happened last time. Sakura almost killed him.

He was startled when he saw that she climbed up a table. "He's not the only one you have to fear. I'm here too. I can become really scary when I get mad. I usually eat genin little boys and girls for breakfast and I haven't eaten yet!" She licked her lips and she had a devilish smile on her face. Everyone except Naruto backed down into a corner. She jumped off the table and walked over to Naruto. Naruto was shocked. _'Was she acting like me?'_ Sakura gave him a playful look. "Why should you be the only one to have fun?"

Just then the doors opened and some smoke bombs were thrown into the room. The smoke cleared and suddenly there were chuunin sitting everywhere. "Alright. This may be troublesome, but I am the examinator for the first exam, Nara Shikamaru. Naruto and Sakura, you guys should settle down. If you will act so troublesome, I am going to fail you." Naruto and Sakura both kept their voice shut. They listened to the explanation of the first test and were not surprised that it was almost the same as last time. The only difference was that this time you would get a point deduction of three points every time you were caught cheating.

Everybody sat down and Shikamaru was watching on his watch. "Start!" Naruto grabbed the written test and looked at the first question. He still remembers that he didn't know the answer of any question last time. He smiled when he wrote down the answer of the first question. Then he solved the second and third. "Wow, Sakura-chan really helped me."

**Flashback**

"_Sakura-chaaan. This isn't fair." Sakura said to his friend who was sitting next to him with some ramen. She was eating the ramen in front of his eyes. He stared at the long noodles and saw them enter her mouth. He became disappointed when he saw the noodles vanish.  
_

"_Shut up. You won't get a bite of this ramen until you have read all of these books. You slacked of at the academy, so you will have to study now." She used her chopsticks to bring another set of noodles to her mouth. He pouted a little, but he gave up. He picked up another book and opened it. She saw him suffer and gave out a smile. She knew how he hated to read._

_He kept reading a book for about two hours and Sakura was really proud on him. She walked to the kitchen. She decided to reward him for his hard work. She knew that using ramen was cruel, but there was no other way. He had his back turned to her and she walked up to him. She decided to give him a break and had a cup of ramen in her hand. She patted him on his shoulder. To her surprise though, his head fell down on his books. Sakura looked at him and she saw that he was sleeping. She became angry and turned the ramen upside down above his head. _

"Hot!!!!" He jumped up and looked around. He saw Sakura standing with an empty cup of ramen in her hand. "What was that for?!"

"_You baka. No ramen for you today." Sakura walked away and left him alone with the books._

**End flashback**

"I'm glad now that she did it. I should thank her." Naruto answered all the questions and looked around. A lot of people had been sent away already. He saw that Sakura was done too and he gave her a smile. He waited for a few minutes and looked at the clock. It was almost time. He saw Shikamaru looking the same way and prepared for the worst.

"There is only 15 minutes left now, so it is time for the final question. Everything depends on this question. If you don't answer this question right, you will lose the right to participate in the chuunin exam ever again!"

Almost everyone started to complain. "Shut up! It would be troublesome if I have to fail you for being noisy. Here is the final question! You can choose not to take it. Just raise your hand now and I will ask you to leave and to wait in the waiting room. If you choose to take it, I will have to tell you one thing: One member of the team always fails. It will be the one with the least points. So make you decision now!"

Naruto and Sakura raised their hands the moment he was done talking. They both said 'I quit'. They walked out of the room and looked over to Shikamaru and they saw that he gave them a small smile. They didn't see the confused looks on most of the genin's faces. They sat down in the waiting room. "It sure was an easy question this time." He said while making himself comfortable. Sakura agreed and followed his lead. After a short time team Gai entered the waiting room and some other teams followed. They waited for a while and suddenly heard 'you all fail' from the room next to them.

A few minutes later Shikamaru entered the waiting room. "Congratulations, you all pass! You know that the well being of your friends is more important than completing a mission sometimes. You need to look out for each other. The second exam starts tomorrow morning at the forest of death. Be sure to be there early. Good luck!" Shikamaru disappeared and almost all of the genin started to yell and jump around. Naruto and Sakura just gave each other a smile.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Naruto and Sakura looked around. They were standing in front of the forest of death. Sakura became a little scared when she thought back of her past experiences in this forest. She remembered Orochimaru and the curse seal. She looked at her own hand and saw that she was shaking. Naruto saw it and placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked at him and saw that he gave her an 'everything will be alright' look. She placed her hand on top of his and thanked him.

Tsunade herself was appeared out of nowhere. She began to explain the rules for the second exam. Naruto and Sakura already knew what they had to do and so they didn't listen. Sakura looked around. "Only 5 other teams passed." Neji, Tenten and Lee were there of course. Neji and Naruto were staring at each other. Sakura saw it and let out a smile. She knew that Neji wanted revenge for last time. _'Boys…'_

"Hey, Sakura-san." Sakura jumped up and looked behind her. "Lee-san, I didn't hear you coming. What's wrong?" The bob-haired boy was blushing and made funny movements with his hands. "Will you go out with me after the chuunin exams? I will protect you until I die." The boy had always liked Sakura and he wasn't afraid to show it. She gave out a sigh.

Naruto heard Lee and walked to the two genin. Sakura saw him coming and used her hand as a stop sign. He then reluctantly stopped and decided to watch. Sakura then turned to Lee. "I'm sorry, Lee. I like you as a friend, but that's all. I am still getting over Sasuke, so I'm not in the mood to go on any dates anyway." She saw his face fall and she felt bad about it. She knew it was her fault, but then realised that this was better than letting the boy believe that he had a chance. She was surprised when he spoke up: "Okay, bye Sakura-san" She saw him walk away and whispered a 'sorry'.

Naruto walked over to the girl and looked her in the eyes with a worried look. He looked deep in her eyes. He could get lost in those eyes for a long time. They were beautiful, but something was wrong this time. They weren't sparking like they normally do. "You still miss him, huh?" Sakura saw how worried he was and gave him a smile. "I still miss him, but I will be fine with you here." Naruto couldn't believe what he just heard. Just then Tsunade finished her speech.

Every team went to another side of the forest and got a scroll. "So we got the heaven scroll. That means we have to get the earth scroll. Let's do our best, Sakura-chan." Sakura nodded. They heard an explosion and the gate opened. Naruto and Sakura jumped into the trees of the forest they hated so much.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was getting dark now. The first day in the forest was almost over. Two boys and one girl were running on the ground. They were pretty tired, well most of them. "Sora, don't run so fast. There may be traps!"

"Don't worry, Riku." Riku turned to the girl and started to blush. He had liked the girl before him, since they were little kids. But he knew that she liked Sora. He had vowed to win her heart, but hadn't made much progress yet. He gave her a fake smile. "He will never learn, will he, Kairi?"

They girl just sighed. Sora stopped for a moment and the two others were standing right behind him. Sora looked down and saw something on the ground. He jumped up and startled the other two by doing so. "Look guys. The heaven scroll is lying on the ground. If we get that, then we're all done here." He ran towards the scroll. "Wait, don't go!" Kairi tried to stop him, but it was too late. When he was one step away from the scroll he suddenly saw that his foot was trapped in some rope. He was flung up a tree."Damn, it was a trap."

"You fell for it!" The three genin were shocked, when the scroll started to talk to them. Riku and Kairi kneeled to look at the scroll and fell down when the scroll started to move.

"Looks like your plan worked, Naruto!" They looked behind them and saw a girl with pink hair. They looked back to the scroll and shrieked when the scroll exploded. When the smoke cleared, they could see a boy with an orange jacket. "Of course, what did you expect? I am going to become hokage, you know." Naruto turned to the two genin and gave them a smile.

Kairi and Riku began to stand in their battle stances. "We're surrounded. Kairi, get behind me. I will protect you." Naruto looked to the girl and saw that she was shaking. "You can just give us the scroll or we can force you to give us the scroll. I suggest that you choose the first option. I have been waiting all day for someone to fall into our trap, so I have a lot of energy right now. I could use a punching bag."

The boy became angry and ran towards Naruto. "Shut up. I'm going to beat you and make you give me your scroll." He threw a punch, but was surprised when he hit a log in stead of the boy. "Kawarimi no jutsu?" He turned around and saw his enemy was standing right in front of him. He tried to run away but felt pain coming from his stomach. He looked down and saw a hand in his stomach and he started to fall down. The girl saw her friend fall on the ground. "Riku!"

Kairi grabbed the scroll from her backpack. "Take it. Leave us in peace." She threw the scroll to the pink-haired girl. Sakura caught it and checked if it was the real deal. She nodded to Naruto. "We'll be leaving now, bye." Kairi saw them make a seal and they disappeared. She fell to her knees and sighed.

"Why did you give them the scroll, Kairi? Why didn't you even try to fight?" The girl looked up and became angry. "At least I'm not the one stupid enough to fall into an obvious trap." The boy became mad. He didn't like to be insulted, especially not by the girl he loved. "At least get me down from here!"

Sakura and Naruto smiled when they looked at the scroll in her hand. "We got both of the scrolls in the first day. That went better than expected. It took us five days last time." Sakura nodded. "We have become a lot stronger since last time. I hear that that Riku guy is supposed to be the strongest rookie genin from the sand village." Naruto looked at his hand. He had defeated the boy so easily. Had he really improved so much since last time? He clenched his fist and gave the girl a big smile. "We're going to go all the way this time!"

They entered the tower in the centre of the forest and walked into the room with the writing on the wall. The both grabbed one of the scrolls and threw them onto the ground. Smoke started to emit from the scroll and there was a small explosion. When the smoke cleared, they were congratulated by none other than their hokage. "Good job. You are the first to arrive here. Especially since you are with just two, you did a good job. I'm impressed."

"Thanks, old hag." A vein appeared on her forehead when he said it.

"How many times do I have to tell you?!" Sakura interrupted the hokage. "I'm sorry for his behaviour." Naruto turned to the kunoichi and gave her a confused look. He became scared when he saw her look at him with intent to kill. He knew when to shut up and this was definitely one of those times.

They waited for four days when suddenly Neji, Tenten and Lee entered the tower. "Finally here, eh." Neji just nodded and the other two followed him. Sakura looked to Lee and saw that he was still hurt.

"Time is up." Naruto looked around and saw only team Gai and Sakura. "Where are the others?" Tsunade walked to the middle of the room. "You guys are the only one who past the forest of death. The other team didn't have what it takes to become a chuunin. One of the teams was even stupid enough to open the scroll, when I told them not too. How can someone be that stupid?" Nobody noticed that Naruto and Sakura stood in a corner feeling ashamed.

"We're going to the fighting part right away. The people are waiting for you at the stadium in the village. We will go there after you guys have grabbed a piece of paper from this box. Everybody grabbed a piece of paper. One of the chuunin asked them what number was on it and everyone answered. Naruto had again picked number one. _'Must be fate. I AM the number one ninja of course.'_

"Okay. The matches have been decided. The first match will be between Naruto and Lee."

Naruto and Lee stared at each other. Naruto saw that the boy gave him dirty looks. "I'm going to beat you down with the power of youth." _'He must be sore because of his rejection.'_

"Keep dreaming, fuzzy brows." Tsunade shook her head and decided to leave the boys alone.

"The second match will be between Sakura and Tenten. Neji is lucky. He won't have to fight in the first round. He will fight against the winner of the first match. Now let's go to the stadium!" Naruto gave Neji a dirty look. He didn't like it when someone else than himself got lucky. They all followed Tsunade to the stadium.

Sakura looked up. She was surprised that there were so many people. And to make it worse, they were all looking at her. She was nervous; she didn't like it when people watched her like that. "Everyone is here, even that Ino-pig." She tensed when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She already knew who it was. "Let's just do out best." Sakura gave him a quick smile." She looked up when Tsunade stood up and was about to speak.

"Thank you all for coming. This will be the final exam of the chuunin exams. Your individual strengths and weaknesses will be vital in this round. Show us that you've got what it takes to become a chuunin. Genma will be the referee. He can stop the match whenever he wants. You lose when you are unable to fight or after you have been killed. Please try to keep it clean.. Enjoy yourselves!"

Genma walked forward. "Now, for the first match. Naruto versus Lee. The rest of you please wait in the waiting room." Sakura walked past Naruto and wished him good luck. Lee saw this and looked down. "Now begin."

Ino looked to the two boys facing off. They were doing very well. "Those two are really trying. They are moving too fast for me to see. Can you see it Shikamaru?" Chouji was eating something and almost choked when he saw the intensity of the battle. "They are both doing very well, but Naruto has the upper hand at the moment. Lee's taijutsu is powerful, but Naruto keeps evading his attacks."

They saw that Lee hit Naruto, but Naruto disappeared in some smoke. Lee looked around. He knew that the kage bunshin was his special move and he hated it. He heard the ground shake and looked down. Just then Naruto appeared from under the ground. Lee tried to jump away, but it was too late. He was and went flying. He hit the ground hard, but stood up again.

"Good one, Naruto!" Naruto looked up and saw that his pink-haired friend was rooting him on. A blush spread around his face. Lee became sad when he saw that Sakura was cheering for his opponent. Naruto and Sakura were always together. Each time he came to ask her for a date, that Naruto was there too. He became angry and powered up. Naruto started to shake when the ground was trembling and when he saw that Lee became red. "Why does she like you and not me!?" Naruto was confused to say the least. "What do you mean?"

"The fifth gate, kai!" He said when he disappeared. Naruto tried to find him, but was surprised when he was kicked into the air. "Damn, this is not good." He opened his eyes and saw that Lee was above him now. "You're going to lose here. I'll show her that I'm stronger than you. Ura renge!" Naruto quickly made some seals. Lee hit him and they hit the ground. There was a lot of smoke. Sakura stood up from her chair. "Naruto!?"

The smoke cleared. The crowd was confused when they saw not one Naruto, but a lot of them. One of the many boys stood up and jumped off the rest of them. He walked over to the boy in green who was lying on the ground with no signs of consciousness. "That hurt, thick brows."

Shikamaru smiled a bit. "He used his clones to soften the fall. Lee did more damage to himself than he did to Naruto this way. He's getting quite smart, that guy. On top of that he did his naruto rendan with one of his clones, thus knocking Lee out." Ino looked to the boy in awe. The boy she knew was long gone. Naruto was no longer the prankster. He was a real konoha shinobi.

Genma walked over to the boy in green and checked him. "Winner, Uzumaki Naruto!" The people in the stands started to scream and applause. Naruto blushed a little and then walked to the waiting room. Lee was carried to the medical room by some medical ninjas. He walked to Sakura and they gave each other a high five. "Great match, Naruto. I knew you could do it. Although you had me worried there for a while."

"Thanks, Sakura-chan. I won because you cheered for me. Now it's your turn. Show everybody what you can do."

"I will." Sakura and Tenten walked to fighting area. Genma raised his hand. "The second match between Tenten and Sakura will now begin!"

Tenten jumped up in the air and opened a scroll. She touched the symbols and weapons started to appear. Sakura started to run and she was fast enough to evade them. Tenten landed and saw Sakura approaching. Sakura made some seals: "Bunshin no jutsu." She made two clones and attacked her from three different directions. Tenten didn't know which one was the real one. She tried to evade, but Sakura was moving too fast. Sakura hit her legs and she fell on the ground. Sakura tried to punch her, but Tenten evaded the attack and kicked Sakura away.

"You've gotten better, haven't you, Sakura. It doesn't matter. I will beat you now." Tenten had two scrolls in her hand. She placed them on the ground and made some seals. The scrolls turned into dragons and Tenten jumped into the air. The dragons became scrolls again and she touched the symbols. She threw a lot of weapons towards Sakura. The latter made two clones again and evaded the attacks. "Is that all, Tenten?"

Tenten smiled and made some movements with her arms. Sakura was shocked when the weapons got off the ground again. There were strings between the weapons and Tenten. '_So that's how huh.' _Sakura quickly made a seal. Tenten launched the weapons again and it seemed like that they hit Sakura.

Ino stood up. "Forehead!" If someone is hit by so many weapons, there is now way to survive. Even tsunade wouldn't be able to save someone hit by so many weapons. Ino knew this and was afraid that she had lost her friend.

When the smoke cleared, Tenten didn't see Sakura. She saw a log with all her weapons in it. "Kawarimi no jutsu?" She looked in front of her and saw Sakura running towards her with a kunai in her hand. She looked behind her and saw another Sakura running to her. '_Another clone? You can't beat me with a basic jutsu. I'm going to focus on the real one, a bunshin can't hurt me.' _

Suddenly Tenten felt something. She looked behind her and saw that the 'bunshin' was holding her. "What the hell?" She felt a kunai against her neck. She looked in front of her and saw Sakura standing with the kunai against her neck.

Tenten tried escape, but as soon as she felt the kunai hitting her skin she knew it was over. "I give up."

Genma walked forward and put his hand in the air. "The winner is Haruno Sakura!"

The Sakura behind Tenten disappeared and she fell down to her knees. Sakura walked away, but stopped halfway. She glanced over her shoulder and gave the girl a grin. "That's a little trick Naruto taught me."

"When did she learn the kage bunshin? She never knew that move." Ino said confused. Shikamaru just smiled. He knew that she was training together with Naruto. "Just ask Naruto." Ino stared to him in confusion. Shikamaru just sighed. "Troublesome."

Tsunade stood up from her chair. "This is surprising. I know that Naruto is strong and that Sasuke was very strong too, but I heard from Kakashi that Sakura was pretty weak. She must have been training these last months. And she knows the kage bunshin. That Naruto must have taught it to her. This is very interesting."

Sakura ran to the waiting room and saw Naruto. "I did it!" Naruto smiled at her and gave her a high five. Naruto put a hand on her shoulder. "I told you, didn't I? You worry too much."

Sakura's smile got even bigger. "I expect to see you in the finals."

Naruto nodded. "Of course."

"Keep dreaming." They turned around and saw that Neji was walking to the fighting area. "If you think that I'm going to lose to you again, you're mistaken. I've been training a lot and it's payback time." Naruto ran after Neji and entered the fighting area.

Naruto was looked at Neji and got the feeling that he had seen this already. A half year before this exam he had faced off with the boy standing in front of him. If it wasn't for the Kyuubi, he would have lost to him. He was so focused that he didn't hear that Genma had started the match. It was when Neji activated his byakugan that he knew that the match had begun. He smiled.

Tsunade was looking at the two boys, but turned around when she heard footsteps approaching her. She sighed and turned back to the fight. She made hand signals to the seat next to her and the figure sat down. "Looks like I'm just in time to see him fight."

Naruto was forced to dodge another attack of the hyuuga boy. Both boys were panting, but they both had a smile on their face too. Neji had a big kunai wound in his right leg and wasn't able to move as fast as before anymore because of that. Naruto couldn't use his right arm anymore, because his tenketsus were closed there. Naruto made the cross seal and a moment later the hyuuga boy was surrounded. He smiled when the boys charged in. He started spinning and the boys were repelled. All but one vanished and Neji knew this was his chance. He began standing in a special stance. Naruto looked up and saw that it was the same stance as last time. He gulped and tried to get away, but it was too late. The boy hit him at all of his tenketsus and he fell to the ground. He didn't move.

Sakura saw this and wanted to run to the boy, but she knew that if she did, the boy would be disqualified. "Naruto!"

Neji walked away to the boy. He remembered from last time that he couldn't be lax. The boy on the ground had surprised him before and he wouldn't make the same mistake again. He was surprised when the boy disappeared in some smoke. His eyes widened when he activated his byakugan again and saw what was happening behind him. Naruto was standing there with a clone and the clone was making movements with his hand above the hand of the original. A ball of chakra was formed. Neji gulped. "Damn, the rasengan. I saw him use the move once and I can't get hit by that." The clone disappeared and Naruto charged towards his opponent. Neji saw the danger coming and started to spin his body. Naruto pushed his hand forward and hit the rotating chakra of the kaiten. There was an explosion and a lot of smoke. Sakura became worried. The smoke cleared and she was looking for her friend. She was surprised when she saw the two boys. Neji was holding Naruto's left arm with his right hand and his left arm was hanging next to his body with a lot of blood on it. Naruto's right leg was bleeding and he couldn't use his left arm. Neji started to laugh. "You can't use your jutsu know that I hold one of your arms. In a moment I will have gathered enough chakra for my kaiten and then you will lose."

Naruto let out a smile and this confused Neji. He raised his right hand and closed his eyes. Sakura's worried face was replaced by a happy one. She knew what the boy was doing. Tsunade and the rest of the stadium were silent as they watched the battle.

Neji's eyes widened when he saw that chakra was taking form in his hand. Naruto opened his eyes again and pulled back his hand. Tsunade stood up from her seat and looked at the blue ball of chakra in the hand of the boy. "Is that?" Naruto pushed his hand forward and hit the hyuuga boy in his stomach. The jutsu ripped his clothes were it hit and he was launched in the sky. He fell down a few seconds later and Genma kneeled to see how the boy was doing. He shook his head slowly and stood up again. "Winner, Uzumaki Naruto!"

Sakura's smile went wide and she jumped up. "He did it!" Everybody in the stadium was impressed by the skills of the boys. Naruto heard that everyone was applauding for him and he started to run around with his hands in the air.

Tsunade looked over to her visitor with a surprised look. "Did you teach him how to do that?" She didn't see that her visitor had the same look on his face. He began to speak when he got himself together again. "When I left, I told him that he had to learn how to do the rasengan with only one hand. I just said that because it would be good practice for his chakra-control. I didn't expect that he would actually be able to do it. It took me a few years to master the rasengan like that. How is he able to do it in so little time? He really has the talent his father had."

They looked down and saw that the said boy was running to the other finalist. They gave each other a high five. Tsunade gave out a little smile. "It must be because of that girl, Sakura. Naruto and Sakura have been training together for a long time now. They even entered the chuunin exam with just the two of them. I heard from Kakashi that she is extremely good with chakra control. She must have helped him with the rasengan."

The white haired sannin smiled when he saw the two young shinobi in the centre of the stadium. "You know, they remind me a lot of us. Sakura is quite the same as you and Naruto resembles me in a lot of me. That's why I'm going to train him. Maybe you should do the same." This caught Tsunade's attention. "There aren't many people with enough talent to become your student, but she does have that talent. Don't let it go to waste. We need every power that we can get, when Akatsuki gets on the move." Tsunade nodded and looked down again. Genma was about to start the final match.

Genma walked over to the walls of the stadium and he ordered Sakura and Naruto to do the same. When they were at the jounin's side, the landscape of the arena started to change. The forest disappeared in the ground and was replaced by a lot of water and sand. "For the last battle, we have changed the battle site. We want to see how you handle this. Please go to opposite sites of the arena and wait for my command to begin." The two genin nodded and did as they were told.

Ino looked around. "How will they fight in this situation? There's water almost everywhere. They will have to fight with long range attacks, but they don't have those, right?" Shikamaru looked down and saw that the two finalists were smiling at each other. "We will have to wait and see."

"Now let the final match begin!"

Naruto was about to make his move, when he saw that Sakura was moving her hand to her hair. He decided to watch for a moment. Sakura gave him a smile and pulled her forehead protector from her head. "I'm here right now, because of you, Naruto. I'm going to fight you with everything I've got to let everyone see what you taught me. Don't hold back. I want to see how I fare against the serious you." She said while putting her forehead protector on her forehead. She saw that the boy nodded.

She ran forward using chakra to increase her speed. Her opponent did the same. They both arrived at the water and kept running forward. Ino's eyes widened. "They can both walk on water? When did they learn that?" Shikamaru just smirked.

The genin clashed in the middle of the water. They both held each other's hands and tried to overpower the other one. Sakura used her left leg to kick, but Naruto jumped out of the way. She made some seals and two clones appeared next to her. They charged towards Naruto and they all hit him. There was some smoke and after it cleared the saw a log. "Kawarimi no jutsu?" Sakura turned around, but was hit by the boy before she could find him. The clones disappeared and she landed on the water. She gave him an angry look and charged towards the boy again. He threw a kunai at her and she jumped out of the way. She grabbed some shuriken and threw them at the boy and he jumped up to dodge them. He looked for the girl, but couldn't find her. He was surprised when he was hit from above. He crashed down and hit the water. He used his chakra to keep above water, but it was getting difficult.

They both had trouble breathing. Tsunade saw this and smiled. "They are both doing so well, though they should be exhausted from the matches against Tenten and Neji. It's only will power that is driving them now."

Naruto made the cross seal and he made one kage bunshin. He was disappointed by this. He saw Sakura do the same. "Looks like, we are both out of chakra, eh." The kage bunshin fought each other and so did the real ones.

The kage bunshin were long gone and both Naruto and Sakura had just enough power to stand on their legs. They had been fighting for more than ten minutes and were tired. The looked at each other and both smiled. They walked forward and stopped when they were in front of each other. They surprised everyone, when they joined hands. The raised their joined hands in the air and smiled at each other. "We give up!" After they said it the whole stadium went silent and almost everyone raised their brow. Naruto and Sakura both closed their eyes and fell down.

Tsunade jumped down with Jiraiya at her side. They looked down to the two unconscious shinobi and saw that they were both smiling and were still holding hands.

Naruto woke up and saw that he was in the hospital. He remembered the battle and smiled. He heard something and looked next to him. Sakura was sleeping in another bed.

"She is quite something, eh." Naruto shot up and his eyes widened when he saw who was there.

"Ero-sennin!" The boy shouted. He turned back to the girl and gave out a genuine smile. "Yeah, she is definitely something else. So, are you going to train me now?"

The white haired sannin stood up and walked towards the window. "Meet me tomorrow at the gate. We will leave tomorrow. Don't take anything unnecessary like last time. We will be training for two years, so don't forget to say goodbye to your 'friend' here." He smirked and jumped out of the window when Naruto tried to hit him. Naruto turned back to the pink haired girl and smiled again.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Naruto, Jiraiya, Tsunade and Sakura were standing in front of the gate of Konoha. It had been silent for quite a while. Jiraiya had told Sakura how long they would be away and she didn't like it one bit. _'Two years without that baka around…things will sure get boring around here.'_

The sannin turned around and started walking. "Let's go, Naruto." Naruto nodded and walked over to the hokage.

"I'm going to miss you, old hag. Thanks for my promotion to chuunin. It really means the world to me. I'm another step closer to become hokage now. I know I can leave the village in your hands. But whatever you do, don't close Ichiraku! It would kill me if you do that. It's bad enough that I won't be able to eat his ramen for two years." He walked forward and hugged the old woman. She hugged him back. "Train well. I believe in you, kid. I still believe that you will become hokage one day, so don't disappoint me now." She released the hug and gave him a smile.

He turned to see his friend, his best friend now. He gave her a forced smile and he saw that she did the same. "So, I guess that this is it, eh."

She nodded. "Yeah…I'm going to miss you."

"I'm going to miss you too, Sakura-chan. I know that I don't have to worry. Konoha is in good hands. We have a strong hokage and you're now a chuunin too. So what do I have to worry about?" Sakura didn't look up. She had been looking to the ground almost the whole time. "Well, I should be going now. Don't skip on training. Keep doing what we did and you'll get even stronger." She just nodded. Naruto was in a battle. He wanted to give her a hug, but she didn't seem to be in the mood for a hug. His mind won over his heart and he turned around. "I'll see you in two years. Goodbye…"

He walked over to the old man while he heard a soft 'goodbye' behind him. He sighed and continued to walk.

"Naruto!" He quickly turned around when he heard her call his name. She was running towards him and his eyes widened. She was crying. She put her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest. "Naruto, don't go. If something happens to you, I don't know what I'll do."

Naruto was in shock. The girl he loved was hugging him. He put his hands around her waist and put his head on top of hers. "I promise that nothing will happen to me. I'll come back to you, I promise."

She raised her head and saw that the boy had 'the grin' on his face. "Okay, then I am glad, because you don't go back on your word." She pulled him closer and Naruto became beef red. She moved her face next to his and whispered into his ear: "I'll be waiting for you here, okay."

Naruto almost fainted and Sakura saw this. She let out a huge smile and released the boy. "Now go." She turned around and walked towards the hokage. She turned around again and saw the boy leaving with the old man. He glanced over his shoulder one more time to look at her and gave her a huge smile, which she returned. One moment later he disappeared.

She turned to the hokage. "It will be boring without that loudmouth here. I won't have anything to do now." The hokage gave her a serious look back and that scared her.

"Haruno Sakura, after watching you in the chuunin exam I have decided to take you under my wing. I want you to become my apprentice. What do you say?" Sakura was shocked and her eyes widened. "You are most suitable to become my student. You have perfect chakra control and you have the will power to achieve great things."

Sakura's smile couldn't have gotten any bigger. "I accept, of course I accept."

"Good, but remember that I won't go easy one you!"

"Hai, Tsunade-sama."

"Come to the tower tomorrow morning and we will start the training. Don't be late." She disappeared, leaving Sakura all alone. _'I'm going to become stronger too, Naruto. Just you see. I'm really going to miss you. Come back safe, okay. Then maybe, I will grant you that date that you seem to want so badly.' _She walked back into the village with a genuine smile on her face.

----------------------------------------------------------------

This was the last chapter before the time-skip. I hope you liked the chapter. I am a kingdom hearts fan for life, so I decided to use their names in the story too;) After the time-skip the action will increase. I hope that you keep reading the story. Please review, it really means a lot to me.

I am planning to do more pairings in my story. Tell me what pairing you would like in the story. I actually love ShikaTema, but tell me what you like. If I see that one pairing is very popular amongst my readers, I will grant your wish. So please tell me what you want.

Until next time!


	8. A hero's comeback

Here's the next chapter. Nothing important will happen in this chapter. Some action, but mostly it is about Naruto's return to Konoha. I had to rush this chapter a bit, because I didn't have much time on my hands. But I hope you enjoy the chapter anyway.

"Hello": regular talking  
_'Hello'_: thinking  
'**_Hello'_**: Inner Sakura and Kyuubi talking

Don't forget to R&R ;)

**Enjoy!**

Sakura was running through a forest with kakashi. They had heard a rumour that Sasuke was spotted near the sand village. Sakura had been training with Tsunade for a long time now and she was certain that she could bring him back now. Naruto had not returned yet and she missed him a lot. She thought that it would make him happy if Sasuke was back in Konoha when he returned. She was surprised when she felt two high chakra levels. She looked at her sensei and was shocked to see a worried look on his face. They both didn't say anything. They exited the forest and arrived at the same place where Naruto and Sasuke had fought before the raven haired boy had left. She looked up and saw two figures standing on the stone statues.

Her eyes widened as she saw black hair, a blue shirt and white shorts. "Sasuke-kun…" She then looked to the other side and saw a boy with orange clothes and yellow, spiky hair. She couldn't believe it. _'Naruto is fighting Sasuke? What about his training with Jiraiya-sama? What is going on here?'_ She tried to call out to them, but her voice wouldn't reach them. She was shocked when Sasuke formed a chidori in his hand and when Naruto formed a rasengan. The faced off for a few seconds and jumped. She saw them flying towards each other and she became scared. Even with all the training she had gone through, she still couldn't move. She gathered all her courage and started running. "Naruto. You promised that we would do it together! Don't do this!"

She was shocked when Kakashi jumped in front of her. "Don't go in there. You will only get yourself killed that way. Stay here." The moment he said that, the two boys collided and there was a huge light. Trees and rocks were flying everywhere and there were strong winds. The light started to fade and Sakura tried to open her eyes. She saw a huge crater at the location where the boys had just collided. Her eyes widened when she saw both boys lying on the ground. She ran towards them and was going look if they were still alive. She began to cry when she kneeled in front of them. She suddenly heard a sound behind her and quickly turned around. She saw her sensei fall down on the ground with a sword in his body. "Kakashi-sensei!"

"He got in my way, so I had to kill him. It seems I was to late though; he wasn't able to make it to me after all, that weakling. I guess I will have to let my aggression out on you, then." She looked up and saw nobody other than Orochimaru standing on a tree branch. She fell down to her knees and started to cry some more. Orochimaru picked up his sword and started to run towards her. "Now die!" She closed her eyes and gave in to her fate.

**Thunk!**

She opened her eyes and was surprised when she saw that she was lying on the ground next to her bed. She stood up and laid the cover back on the bed. "Thank god, it was just a dream." She turned to see the time. It was still early and she sighed. It would be another three hours before her training with her shishou ( master) would start. She walked down the stairs and sat down on a chair in the kitchen. She was having these nightmares for a while now. It would always end up with Naruto and Sasuke fighting. She hadn't got much sleep because of these dreams too.

She stood up and walked over to the sink. She grabbed a bowl and put some cereals in it. Her stomach was asking for some food, so she decided to listen to the sounds coming from it. She put in some milk and walked back to the chair. She sat down again and began to eat. While she was eating she began to think about her comrade. _'It really is quiet around here without that baka around. I wonder when he will come back. It's about time that he returned.'_ It had been tow years and one month since the boy had left. When he had not returned after two years, she had started to worry and she had gone to Tsunade. The woman had told her that Jiraiya told her that he would be away for a little while longer, because he had something to take care of. Sakura understood this and she thought it had something to do with Naruto's training. _'Don't worry; I am training hard every day too. When you come back, we will save that fool together.'_

She did the dishes and walked to the shower. She put her pyjamas on the bed and stepped in the shower. _'My hair is filthy; I really need to wash it. My hair really feels like bubble gum now…'_ After she was done showering she put on her clothes for the day. She now wore a red shirt with a white circle on her back. She decided to swear of the dresses while doing ninja things. They only got in the way when she was on missions. She wore a short skirt. It showed her long legs. Under her legs she wore boots. She liked them far better than the weird shoes. She finished her outfit by putting her forehead protector in her hair. Her hair was still short. She did this because it wouldn't get in the way and because it represented her new self, the Sakura who wouldn't give up.

She looked in the mirror and let out a small smile. She entered the living room again and saw that her mother was there now. She and her mother had been fighting a lot. Her mother was always saying how happy she was that the monster had left the village and Sakura couldn't take it. She would scream that she was wrong and her mother didn't listen. It infuriated her. She wanted to just leave without saying a thing, but luck wasn't on her side. "Sakura. Is that you?" She frowned and walked into the living room again. She gave her mother a glare when the woman didn't even look up. "The hokage just called. She says that you have to come to her office immediately." Sakura nodded and left the room. _'What could be important enough to wake up my mother? Looks like she is cranky too, I'd better go quickly.' _

She lived at the other side of the village and she didn't want to run, so she decided to walk through the village. She looked around and thought back at the time that she walked through the village with her comrades. _'The village has changed so much since then. I bet Naruto would love the way it turned out.'_ There hadn't been any wars since the sound-sand war and the village was able to grow because of that. She walked past the most famous ramen shop of the village, Ichiraku. She thought back of the times she spent there with Naruto. He was able to slurp away twenty bowls in one go. She giggled at the thought. She saw the hokage tower and looked up. There were now five stone faces on the wall. They had made Tsunade's face one year ago.

She entered the tower and signed when she began walking up the stairs. She had to walk up these stairs each day. When she started her training with the sannin, she just barely survived the climb, but now she has build up enough stamina to endure. She remembered that Gai once told her that it was training. She smiled when she was at the top and she began to walk to her teacher's room. She stopped when she suddenly heard some people talking in the room. She decided to wait, because Tsunade never liked it when she interrupted her when she was in an important conversation. It took a while and she became tired of waiting. She had a smirk on her face and moved her ear to the door. She heard the hokage talking and was surprised when she heard a familiar voice. "But baachan!" Sakura's eyes shot open. Only one person calls her master like that. She kicked open the door and her eyes widened even more. Before her stood a surprised Jiraiya with next to him a boy.

She couldn't believe her eyes. Everyone was silent when they saw what had happened. Jiraiya started to smile and walked over to Tsunade, who had a smirk on her face too. She walked forward and reached the boy. "Are, are you Naruto?" In front of her stood a boy, who was a bit taller than her now. He wore a black headband and had yellow spiky hair. He wore a orange and black jacket and orange pants. Under that he wore black shoes. "Haha, of course I am, Sakura-chan." She didn't believe him at first, but when she saw the whiskers on his face she was sold. She surprised the boy by placing her arms around him. The boy didn't know what hit him, but placed his hands around her waist too.

"You're back." She said when she pulled herself out of the hug. She looked him in the eyes and saw the same smile he had always shown her. She now saw the boy from up close and was surprised by the changes of the boy. "You've grown taller than me." She saw him move his hand from his forehead to her's and she smiled. _'You've become amazing, Naruto.'_

She turned to the hokage who smiled at her. She began to frown when the white haired sannin next to her was writing something in his notebook. Tsunade saw this and hit the sannin. "I am really glad that you have returned, Naruto. The rock country is being rather suspicious lately and you know the other problem we have on our hands." Sakura gave a confused look to Naruto, but the boy didn't even notice. "We need your power. I hope that your training has gone well. Sakura here has been training hard too." Naruto looked to Sakura and she giggled.

"So as I already told you, Naruto. I'm going to send you guys on a mission. It will be a B-rank mission. I know that you guys are ready for a mission of this level. You are going to assassinate the man who tried to kill the kazekage, Sakoi Yojimbo. He is a missing nin and he is very strong. You will need to work together if you want to beat this guy. I am sending you there for two reasons. I can't spare any jounin from the village and you can see this as a test. You have been training for two years and I want to know how far you've come. You guys are leaving right now. He is last seen in the forest north of Konoha. Proceed with caution." The two chuunins nodded and left the room. Tsunade sighed as she took a bottle of sake in her hand. "I hope that they are up for the job…"

Naruto already had all of his stuff with him, so he decided to go with his friend, who had to go home to pick up some stuff. He was walking and looking around the village, but he couldn't help but feel eyes gazing on him. He looked to his side and saw two big emerald eyes looking at him. When the girl saw that he looked, she quickly turned her head. He was oblivious to the fact that she had a slight blush on her face. He took this opportunity to look at the girl. She had grown much, although he had grown bigger than she now. He saw her new clothes and found them dashing. They fit her perfectly. Her hair was still short and still the same colour pink. A small blush appeared on his face when his eyes wandered to a forbidden place. Her breasts were still small, but they had grown a bit. He didn't mind though. He thought she was perfect the way she was now. They reached her house and Sakura opened the door. "I'll be right back, Naruto. Just wait here, okay." She gave him a smile and entered the house.

She closed the door behind her and ran up the stairs. She closed the door to her room and sat down on her bed. She grasped her shirt at the location her heart was located. Her heart was beating really fast at the moment. _'He's back, he's really back. He sure has grown and he has become more handsome, that's for sure. But why is my heart beating like this? Calm down, calm down.'_

'**_I know why. You're just very very happy that he's back.' _**Her inner self gave her a devilish smile. Sakura stood up after her heart had finally settled down again and she began to pack her stuff. _'He's just back and I get to go on a mission with him right away. This is great, I haven't seen him for so long. We really need to talk. I wonder if he has thought about me while we were apart.' _Her lips curled in a smile and she finished packaging her stuff. She walked down the stairs and was about to open the door again when she was stopped by a familiar voice.

"Where are you going, Sakura? And who is that guy waiting for you outside?" She turned around and saw her mother standing in front of her. She had a serious look on her face.

Sakura knew that her mother wouldn't let her leave, so she decided to answer. She closed her eyes and began to answer: "I'm going on a mission. I don't know how long I will be away. The boy waiting outside is Naruto. He's finally back from his training. We're going to do this mission together." She opened her eyes again and was surprised when she was talking to a wall. She turned around and saw her mother shouting to her friend.

"Why did you come back!? We all thought that you had died or something. We thought that now we were safe. Why did you return? Just stay away from my daughter!" The woman was furious. Naruto looked down and didn't know what to say. He had hoped that the people would have changed their view on him, but he now knew that they still just saw him as a monster. He turned around to walk away, when he suddenly saw a pink blur appear before him. He looked up to see his friend.

Sakura couldn't take it. She gave her mother a dirty look. "Naruto, don't walk away. You have done nothing wrong. Mother, can you just shut up for a while. I still don't know why you treat him so badly, but I won't allow it anymore. Naruto is one of the most important people in my life." Naruto's eyes widened with this statement. "If you continue to treat him this way, then I don't want to think you as my mother anymore." Her mother didn't say a word and appeared to be quite shocked. Sakura gave Naruto a smile and grabbed his hand. She jumped away and took the boy with him. When they reached the gate of the village, she released the boy.

The boy couldn't believe that his friend was willing to go so far for him. He wanted to be happy, but when he saw her face he became sad. They girl had a furious look on her face. "Sakura-chan, you didn't have to this for me. It's okay." Sakura turned to the boy with a serious look on her face, which scared the boy.

"Yes, I did have to do that. You have just returned to the village and she treats you like that the first moment she sees you. Why can't she see what a great person you really are? I hate her." Naruto tried to reassure her that it was okay, but she put her fingers on his lips and smiled. "Let's go." Naruto gave her a confused look and nodded.

Naruto smiled when he saw his friend jump from tree to tree. It was an amazing sight to see. She moved very elegant through the forest. It was very sunny and warm. They boy quickly looked away when the girl of his dreams looked behind her. She slowed down a bit and went to jump in his step. She saw that the boy was avoiding her gaze and she frowned. "What is wrong, Naruto?"

Said boy turned to face the girl and gave her a reassuring smile. "It's nothing, Sakura-chan. I haven't seen you in such a long time. It's just good to see you again. I'm just thinking about the mission."

Sakura gave him a small smile and said nothing. She had been exited for this mission too. She wanted to see how much the boy had improved in his training. She knew that he would be surprised by her improvement. She couldn't stop looking at the boy. He had changed so much. Not only on the outside, but he had had matures a lot too. _'It's a bit sad, but you've grown up, Naruto.'_

Sakura took out her map. They were supposed to be at the right location. She saw that Naruto was looking around too. She was surprised when she suddenly felt a lot of killer intent. She jumped aside and saw two kunai flew right past her. She saw a man standing with a big blade on his back. He kind of reminded her of Zabusa.

"Sakura! This is the guy. Be careful. Let's see him what we can do!" She nodded and clenched her fist. She pulled back her hand and hit the ground. The ground started to crumble around her and everything was shaking. It was almost like an earthquake hit them. Naruto couldn't believe his eyes when he saw what had happened. _'Looks like baachan didn't only teach you medical ninjutsu. You have sure become great, Sakura-chan.' _He saw that the girl had a confident smile on her face. "I'm not a burden any longer, Naruto."

"I've never seen you as a burden, Sakura-chan!" Sakura flushed a bit at his sentence.

Their enemy was shocked by the demonstration of power too. He was able to jump away just in time. "I hope that I'm not interrupting your conversation, but this is where you will die." He jumped into the air and made some seals. He made a ball of lightning in his hand and threw it toward the girl. She couldn't get away in time, so decided to black. She was surprised when Naruto was suddenly in front of her. "Fuuton: air bullet!" He spit out a ball of air and it collided with the ball of thunder. There was a big explosion and a lot of wind. Sakura was amazed by this attack. She now turned to the boy who had a confident smile on his face.

Sakura saw the guy landing on the ground and saw her chance. She made some seals and suddenly her hands were emitting a green light. She ran towards the enemy and tried to hit him. He evaded her attacks like it was nothing. He smiled at her and tried to hit her, when he couldn't move all of a sudden. He turned around to see that Naruto was holding him. "Now Sakura-chan, hit him and my clone!" She did as she was told and hit the guy in his stomach. The kage bunshin disappeared and he went flying. Sakura let out a smile, but was surprised when the enemy started to change into mud. "Damn, a mud clone!"

"This is it for you!" She looked up and saw Yojimbo with his sword above him. Her eyes widened and she made some seals. "Suiton: water bullet!" She spit out a bullet of water and hit the guy. He was surprised by this and was sent up in the air once again. He looked around and was surprised to see that he was surrounded by Naruto's. All of the clones threw three shuriken towards him. He laughed. "You think that you can defeat me with a few shuriken."

All four of the Naruto clones started to smile and made some seals. "Then how about this! Shuriken kage bunshin no jutsu!" The shuriken started to multiply and suddenly hundreds of shuriken were flying towards him. His eyes widened and he quickly made some seals. The shuriken all hit him, but when the smoke cleared, Naruto could see that the shuriken hit a log. "Kawarimi no jutsu!" Yojimbo landed on the ground and started to pant. "Damn it. These kids are no pushovers." He stepped forward and was surprised when he couldn't move. "What the hell!" He looked around and saw that all the trees around him had a seal on them. "Shoot!" He saw the girl running towards him and she hit him in his stomach. He was sent flying and hit a tree. Naruto landed next to Sakura and saw that the enemy was lying on the ground without a trace of life. Naruto checked his pulse and shook his head. "Well, we did it, Sakura-chan!"

Sakura jumped up in the air. "Alright! I knew we could do it. We make a great team." She walked over to Naruto and patted him on the back. "You sure surprised me with your techniques, Naruto. You've become really strong."

"You've become amazing too, Sakura-chan. I think you might even be almost as strong as baachan by now." He gave her his fox grin and she started to blush a bit. Naruto would always compliment her and she loved it. "Let's head back. I haven't had the chance to go to Ichiraku yet and I'm so damn hungry." She chuckled and went to chase after him. "Wait up, Naruto!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"And that's how we defeated him, baachan." Naruto winced when Sakura hit him. "Don't call her that. She'll get angry at me." She whispered into his ear.

"Don't call me that for the last time. But you've done a great job. I see your training has paid off. From now on you two will become team Naruto." Naruto's and Sakura's jaws dropped and their eyes widened.

Naruto couldn't believe it. A team was named after him. Sakura looked at the boy and saw that he was truly happy. She gave him a smile. She was a bit disappointed that the team wasn't named after her, but when she saw his smile she gave in.

"There is one other person who will be on your team. Come in, Sai!" Naruto and Sakura turned around to see a boy with black hair and black clothes. Sakura started to frown. "No, not him, Tsunade-shishou…"

"Sai will be the third member of your team. He has proven to be one of the strongest fighters we have. I know you have got something against him, but it is the only choice I've got."

Sai walked up to the two chuunins and started to smile. "Well if it isn't the ugly-dog." Sakura was about to kill the bastard when Naruto grabbed her shirt. "Let me go! I am going to kill him!"

"Calm down, Sakura-chan. I know that you're not ugly. The guy must be blind." Sakura gave him a surprised look and calmed down. She saw him smiling at her and she smiled back.

"So you're the Uzumaki Naruto I keep on hearing about. I hope that we can become good friends. It's a new thing to me and I don't really know how to react. Ugly-dog here always attacks me. I don't know why. She is the one who said that I had to give everyone a nickname." Naruto once again had to hold Sakura back.

"Well, I hope that we'll meet again soon, Uzumaki." With that he disappeared out of the room. Naruto let Sakura go. "What's his problem anyway?" He gave his friend a confused look. Sakura took a few minutes to calm down before she turned to him. "He was in anbu, but his master Danzo betrayed Konoha. He had no emotions when I first met him. Tsunade-shishou gave me the task to teach him how emotions work. But even when Ino and I both did everything we could think of, he stayed a social wreck. What you saws just now is the result. He is strong, but he can be so annoying."

Naruto sighed. "Well, maybe I can teach him a thing or two."

Tsunade returned to her paper work and dismissed everyone. Sakura tried to protest, but the hokage clenched her fist and Sakura knew what this meant. She was in an angry mood. She walked out of the tower with Naruto beside her. "Let's go to Ichiraku. Everyone is waiting for us. I didn't tell them yet that you're back. They will be so happy." She gave the boy a smile and started to run. "Come on, aren't you hungry?" Naruto smirked and started to run after the girl.

All of the Konoha eleven, except Naruto and Sakura, were enjoying their meals at Ichiraku. Ichiraku had become much bigger. They had moved to a building now and always had a lot of customers. Teuchi, the chef of the restaurant, knew that the Konoha eleven would eat here every week at the same time. He gave them a big discount, because they had helped him with the restaurant. Everyone had become a chuunin and Neji had even become jounin by now. Shikamaru was sitting at a table with Chouji and Ino. Hinata, Neji, Tenten, Lee, Shino and Kiba were sitting on the other one. They were waiting for Sakura to come. Ino started to get worried. "Sakura has never been late for our weekly dinner together before. I think I'll go look for her. The moment she stood up, she saw Sakura entering building. "Hey, forehead, why are you so late?" Her jaw dropped when she saw the other person enter. "Naruto? Is that you?"

Everybody in the restaurant turned to Ino when they heard her say the name of the boy. "It's been a long time, Ino." Everyone turned to the boy now. They recognised that voice like no other. Naruto walked past Sakura and showed himself. "Hey guys, are you all just going to stand there or what!" They all walked over to the boy. Ino embraced the boy, followed by Tenten and Hinata. Sakura frowned a bit when she saw this, but she quickly turned so that nobody could see it.

Shikamaru shook hands with him and so did Shino, Kiba and Lee. Chouji said "hi" while eating a bag of chips and Neji just nodded. Everybody wanted to talk to Naruto. Sakura was still at the entrance of the restaurant and felt happy when she saw that Naruto was in the limelight for once. Ino stood next to her and Sakura could see that she was looking at the boy. "That guy looks fine. Maybe I'll ask him to go out with me." Sakura frowned again. _'Why am I frowning? This isn't anything like me. I'm getting jealous because someone else wants to go out with Naruto. Well, if anyone is going to go out with him it is me. I need to know what these feeling in my chest are.' _

Everyone had a lot of fun that night. Naruto told everyone his story while eating his ramen. Sakura couldn't even get close to him anymore. Hinata and Ino were sitting too close to him. She could see that Hinata was drooling a bit. She started to get a little irritated. She saw that Ino was looking at him intensively and she couldn't take it anymore. "Naruto, we're leaving now." Everyone turned to Sakura with a confused look. "We still have to do some paper work for the new team." Naruto didn't know that they had to do any paper work, but he complied. He stood up and waved goodbye. "I'll see you guys again soon!" He and Sakura exited the restaurant, leaving a sad crowd behind.

They decided to do the paper work at Naruto's place, because she didn't want to fight with her mother again. Naruto opened the door to his apartment and stepped in. Sakura thought back at the time she came here for the first time. She had been crying in the rain, because she wanted to apologise to him. And now she stood here, because she was his best friend. She started to smile. She shrieked when she saw that Naruto placed his hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright, Sakura-chan?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking a bit." She walked into his apartment and saw the mess. It was all dusty. She knew that boys didn't clean very often, but this was ridiculous. "Sorry, Sakura-chan. I haven't been here for a while." She could see rags and dust everywhere. She felt sorry for him. He had to sleep in this place in a few hours. He had been away for so long and nobody was nice enough to clean his room. She walked over to the boy and finger flicked his forehead. "The paper work has to wait for a few minutes, Naruto. We're going to clean this place first."

"No, it's fine, Sakura-chan. You don't have to clean if you don't want to. It is my house after all." The blond boy said while moving his hand to his forehead.

Sakura picked up a cloth and started to clean the television. "But I want to help you. Isn't that what best friends do?" She gave him a big smile and threw some dust in his face. The boy saw that she was serious and decided to play along. If there were going to clean, then they might as well do it while making fun. "Sakura-chaaan."

Naruto picked up some dust and threw it in her hair. It was a war and neither was giving up. The dust was flying everywhere. Sakura couldn't remember the last time she had so much fun as she had now. It was always this way. Naruto was always the one who made her smile.

They had cleaned the room after two hours and quickly finished the paper work after that. Sakura watched at the clock and saw that it was way past her bed time. "Oh no, my mother is going to kill me." She stood up and walked to the door. Naruto walked behind her and saw her open it. Sakura turned around and gave him a smile. "I'll see you tomorrow okay?" He nodded and gave her a smile back. She wanted to say more to him, but she saw the time and ran towards her home. "Bye!" She hit herself, because she was too scared to ask him out, but she knew that she had another chance tomorrow.

Naruto closed the door and looked around his now clean apartment. He couldn't believe how much Sakura had changed. He looked at the picture of team 7 and let out a small smile. "You're a fool, Sasuke." He sat down on his bed and turned off the light. _'Maybe she wants to go on a date with me now. I'll ask her tomorrow, although I have a feeling something bad is going to happen…'_

_---------------------------------------------------------------------------_

I still haven't decided on all the couples. I think that I will be going for Narusaku, Shikatema, but I'm still not sure of the others. Tell me what you want. A lot of action and some fluff in the next chapter. I don't know how soon I can update, but I'll do my best to update as soon as possible. Thanks for reviewing. You guys are the best!


	9. Secrets and relevations

I just noticed that I forgot the disclaimer, stupid me.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any character from the show.

I hope you still enjoy my story. Thank you for all the positive reviews. It means a lot to me. I didn't expect to get so many reviews. And for the people who think it wasn't fair that Sakura tied with Naruto in the chuunin exams. Neji and Lee had already worn Naruto out. He wasn't at his best anymore, while Sakura had only fought Tenten, so she had more left. So I made them tie ;p

"Hello": regular talking  
_'Hello'_: thinking  
'**_Hello'_**: Inner Sakura and Kyuubi talking

Don't forget to R&R ;)

**Enjoy!**

"Naruto!" She shot up and saw that she was sitting in her bed. "Damn, another nightmare. When are these stupid nightmares going to stop, I would love to get some sleep one of these days. And I can't shake of the feeling that something in these dreams is foreboding." Naruto was back now, so she had hoped that the bad dreams would end, but they didn't. They actually got worse. Most of the times Naruto would end up being killed in those stupid dreams.

She walked to the shower and undressed. She was sweating, so she decided to take a quick shower. Today she was going on a mission again with Naruto. They hadn't had a lot of time together, because all of her friends, and mostly Ino, hogged the boy for themselves. She still hadn't asked the boy out, because she was scared for some reason. She had hoped that he would ask her out, but he didn't. _'Maybe he doesn't like me anymore. He has spent a lot of time with Ero-sennin. Maybe he's a pervert now and now looks at girl for the size of their bosom and then I don't get in the picture…'_ She dropped her head.

'**_You know that kid isn't like his pervy teacher! And stop being such a wimp. Just ask him out, okay. You're driving me crazy!"_** Inner Sakura said. Sakura smiled when she heard her other self say that. "Since when don't you hate Naruto?"

'**_I still think he is kind of annoying sometimes, but he is nice! Have you ever looked at his ass!"_** Sakura saw that her inner self was drooling now. She sweat dropped because of this and exited the shower. She dressed herself and packed her backpack. She walked down the stairs and saw her mother sitting on the sofa. "I'm going on a mission now, mother. I won't be away too long, it's an easy mission, just a C-rank. We need to guide someone from the hidden sand village."

Her mother turned around and looked into the eyes of her daughter seriously. "Be careful out there, hun. Especially because that Naruto kid will be there with you."

A vein appeared on Sakura's forehead and she clenched her fist. "Why can't you stop that? I told you a million times now that I trust him and that he is my best friend. He would rather die than hurt me, mother. I am sad that you still can't see that. I always looked up to you, but now I'm starting to doubt what kind of person you really are!" She opened the door and ran out of her house. _'Why does almost everyone treat Naruto like this? It's not fair.'_

She saw the two boys waiting for her at the gate. She started to smile when she saw that Naruto was eating some cup ramen. _'I wonder if he eats something else then ramen…' _She reached the boys now. "Hey Naruto." She said with a smile. She turned to the other boy and started to frown. "Hey Sai…"

Naruto turned around and saw her. "Sakura-chan, great you're here. Now we can go. I want to get there as soon as possible. It will be good stamina training." She nodded and they jumped into the trees. Along the way Naruto made a lot of decisions, like where they should rest, which way to go, etc. She had never expected that he would be so good at that. It's true that he was still the immature Naruto most of the times. He had almost fallen down a waterfall, because he was doing something stupid. But he had become much more mature while he was away.

It was becoming dark now and they had been running the whole day. Naruto made a hand gesture to stop and the other two understood. "Let's rest here for the night. We're close to a river, so we can get some water. We are already close to the village. We can reach it tomorrow morning. I'm going to catch some fish and get water. Sai, I want you to get some firewood and Sakura-chan, I want you to guard this spot." Sakura was amazed that Sai immediately jumped into the forest and Naruto started to walk towards the river. _'He has really become amazing. He might really become hokage if he goes on like this.' _She lied down the sleeping bags around the fire spot. Sai came back with some wood and he made a fire with a weak Katon jutsu. Naruto came back some time later and when she looked at him she saw a large bruise on his arm. He scratched the back of his head and gave her his grin. "I slipped when I was walking to the river." She sighed and started to heal him. _'Maybe it isn't quite the time for him to become hokage yet…'_

They had eaten and Sakura decided to take the job to stay awake and watch for enemies. She wasn't able to sleep with those nightmares anyway. She looked over to Naruto and saw that he was lying on his back and a little drool escaped his mouth. He was snoring a bit too. You couldn't hear or see Sai. He had decided to stay awake too and he walked away from the camp. Sakura hated the guy more and more. _'First he calls me an ugly-dog and now he doesn't trust me…'_ She looked up to the stars. She did this sometimes after Sasuke left. "I hope you're okay, Sasuke-kun. You're a fool, because you left us. Naruto keeps insisting on bringing you back, so I am going to help him. I know you are an avenger, but you can become stronger in Konoha too. The next time we meet, we will take you back, even if we have to drag you back."

They reached the hidden sand village in the morning like Naruto expected. They looked around and couldn't help but think how ugly the village was in comparison to their own. Everything was made out of sand and some of the houses had really weird shapes. They reached the tower of the kazekage. It was a really big building, maybe even bigger than the tower of the hokage. The entered the building, because they needed to speak with the kazekage. Naruto knocked on the door and they heard someone say "Enter." He opened the door and let out of huge smile when he saw Gaara sitting in white robes. "How've you been Gaara." Sakura hit him on the head. "Don't talk to him like that. He is the kazekage. And he is still the same guy who tried to kill us, so watch your mouth." She whispered into his ear.

"Hey Naruto. I didn't bring you here for nothing. There's business to be done. I want you to bring my sister to Konoha with you. She is a jounin right now, but I don't want anything to happen to her, so I wanted the best to guide her. She is waiting at the gate of the village for you. That is all." They all nodded and turned around. Sai opened the door and exited the room, followed by Sakura. "Naruto, I need to talk with you alone for a sec." Naruto closed the door and walked back to the kazekage. "What's up?"

Gaara stood up from his chair and walked to one of the windows. "Now that I am kazekage, I have permission to go through all the documents of the village. I stumbled across a very interesting one a few days ago. When I heard that you got back to Konoha, I immediately asked the godaime to send you. I know that the Kyuubi is sealed in you." Naruto's eyes widened. "Yeah, you're right. The demon fox was sealed within me. But why is that so important?"

The kazekage turned around and gave the boy a serious look. "As you have seen, the one tail demon raccoon is sealed within me. You might say that we are the same. As the kazekage I get a lot of information from a lot of sources. I have heard that an organisation called Akatsuki is collecting these tailed demons." Naruto looked down and walked to another window in the room. He placed his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, I know. When I was twelve two members of that organisation tried to take me with them. They were very strong. Ero-sennin, you may know him as Jiraiya, fought them off, but just barely. He told me that they are after the Kyuubi, but even he doesn't know why."

Gaara walked back to his office and let everything sink down. "I'm telling you this, because I have heard that they are on the move. They are moving in teams of two and so far two other demon containers have been killed by them. I won't be long until they find you or me. I have told your hokage this too, but we need to work together on this. We need to take care of them. We don't know what we will do just yet, but we're thinking. I just want to say: watch your back. If they get hold of all the tailed beasts, they will become unstoppable."

Naruto leaned against the wall with his back and nodded. "I know. I've been doing that for a long time. It's one of the reasons I have to become stronger and fast." Gaara sat down and sighed. "There is more I'm afraid. I have heard from my most reliable source, the one you call Ero-sennin that Akatsuki was spotted in the hidden village of mist. They were talking with the mizukage and he even saw them shake hands. He then got hold of one of the guards there and made him talk. It seems that they are planning an attack on Konoha." Naruto's eyes widened. "What! You're kidding right."

Gaara put his finger in his ear. "Damn, why do you have to be so loud? But no, I am not kidding. I have send spies to the village and it seems that they are preparing for war. I have told your hokage about this too and she is preparing for it. This is one of the reasons I am sending my sister over there. The sand village will help Konoha if they will attack. My spies will tell me if something happens and if I hear something, then I will let your hokage know. We need to defend our villages." Naruto was at a loss. Not only had Akatsuki befriended a village, but a war would be amongst them soon. I didn't want to believe it. But when he looked Gaara in the face he knew he was serious. The guy was always serious. "Okay, thanks for telling me."

Gaara opened one of the drawers and held a scroll in his hand. "Give this to your hokage. It will show her that we are willing to help when it is needed." Naruto took the scroll and put it in his backpack. "You got it."

"Now it is time for you to leave. They must be getting tired of waiting for you." Naruto started to think and suddenly realised something. His eyes widened again. _'Sakura-chan is going to kill me for making her wait…' _Naruto quickly turned around and opened the door. "Naruto." He looked over his shoulder. "Be careful." Naruto nodded and started to run to the exit of the village.

'_Where is that baka? We have been waiting for over an hour already. I hope nothing has happened to him. Maybe he encountered an enemy…Oh no…I have to go look for him.'_ Sakura started to run towards the village. "Hey Sakura-chan." She turned to her right and saw the noisy ninja standing there. She started to smile and she could feel a tear forming in her eye. "Naruto." Then all of a sudden she started to feel angry. "You baka! Where were you?"

'_Damn, I can't let her know what just happened.' _He began to scratch the back of his head and forced a smile. "I got hungry, so I went to find a ramen shop in the village and I kind of got lost." He started to walk to the rest when he suddenly saw a fist approaching him. "Baka! I am going to kill you!" He saw that Sakura was really mad. He started to run for his life. "Help me!" Sai and Temari just sighed and started to walk.

Sakura had finally calmed down and they were jumping from tree to tree. Sakura began to jump in step next to Temari. "So, are you looking forward to see Shikamaru again? I heard you guys share a strong bond." She said with her lips curled in a devilish way. Temari got beef red. "What are you talking about? What do I have to do with that lazy bastard?" Sakura knew she was on to something and didn't give up. "Then why are you so red, Temari-san." Sakura backed down when she saw that Temari was about to grab her fan. _'Party pooper.' _

They reached the town and decided to go to the hokage immediately. There were more guards then usual around the village. Sakura looked around and saw that Sai and Temari saw it too. Then she looked to Naruto and he acted the same as always. _'He didn't notice it. It is still Naruto we're talking about.' _

They entered the tower and climbed the stairs. Temari sighed. "Why does that woman need to be on the top? Build an elevator for crying out loud. This is so troublesome." She moved her hands to her mouth the moment she said it. She turned around and saw that Sakura gave her an evil smirk. "Nothing's happening between you guys, eh." Temari started to wave with her hands before her. "It's not what you think." Sakura walked right past her with a smile on her face.

Tsunade was sitting at her office with a troubled look on her face. She had heard the news from Gaara and she knew the situation was very bad. "Konoha is not ready for a war. We were weakened a lot by the sound war." She turned to the other person in the room. "Yeah, I've been gathering information and it seems that they might attack soon. So do you really think it is okay to tell him now? Is he ready?" Tsunade took a sip from her sake. "I don't know, but we don't have a choice. We need every bit of extra power that we can get." The white haired sannin was about to say something, when someone knocked on the door. "Come in."

Naruto entered the room, followed by Sakura, Sai and Temari. "Ah, I see that you completed your mission. Good job. I didn't expect you back until tomorrow, but that's fine. Take the rest of the day off. You are dismissed." They saluted the hokage and turned around. "Naruto, I want to talk to you." Naruto turned around and walked back to the hokage. Sakura started to walk back too. "I'm sorry, Sakura. I want to talk with him alone." She looked down and walked to the door again. "I'll wait for you downstairs okay." Naruto gave her a smile. "I'll try to be there as soon as I can." She raised her head again and walked out of the room with a smile on her face. The hokage couldn't help but smirk at the sight. As soon as Sakura closed the door, Tsunade opened her drawer. Naruto was surprised when he saw a box in her hands.

"Naruto, you've talked to the kazekage, right. So I guess I don't have to inform you anymore. We are in deep trouble. If the hidden mist decides to attack right now, I don't know if we are able to stop them. That's why I will do everything I can to make us a little bit stronger. And that's why I am giving you this box." Naruto looked at the box in confusion. "What's so special about this box, baachan?"

Tsunade said nothing and Naruto opened it. He saw some kunai and some scrolls in the box. "I was supposed to give this to you when you turned 16, but I decided that this is the best time to give it to you. It is from your father." Naruto's jumped into the air. "What, my father? Is he still alive?!" Tsunade looked down. "No, I am afraid that he died. He died while protecting the village from the Kyuubi. Naruto, your father was the fourth hokage."

Naruto took a few steps backward. He couldn't believe it. He had never known his parents, he had always been alone. He figured that his parents had died at some time and at other times he thought that they had left him, because they hated him just like the rest of the village. But now he was told that he was the son of the fourth hokage, probably the strongest ninja ever. He didn't know if he should be happy or sad. He wanted to be happy, because he was the son of such a great guy, but at the other hand he wanted to be sad, because his father wasn't alive anymore. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Tsunade kept silent and the frog tamer walked to the boy and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Your father wanted me to tell you this when you turned 16. I told you that I was his mentor before he became hokage. I knew that he had a child of his own. Not many people knew this. You were born just before he died. When the Kyuubi attacked the town he gave me this box and told me to give it to you when you were old enough to understand. He decided to seal the Kyuubi in you, his own son, because he wanted that the people would see you as a hero. He didn't want the people to hate you so much. He gave his life to save the village, but mostly to protect you, Naruto. Your father was a great man."

Tsunade was surprised when she saw tears fall down on the ground. She had never seen the boy cry, not once. She saw the boy as her own son and ran towards him. She wrapped her arms around him and let him cry in her bosom. Normally if he would do something like that, she would have killed him, but this was a special case. She did hit the white haired sannin however when she saw that he was jealous. She was surprised when he pulled back and wiped away his tears with the sleeve of his jacket. "What about my mother?"

Jiraiya looked away when he started to speak. "Your mother died when she gave birth to you, I'm sorry." Naruto felt the tears well up again. "She was a great woman. She had your eyes. She was truly the most beautiful woman of her time. She was a strong ninja too. When you were just born she looked at you and gave you your name. She was fond of ramen, so that's why you were named after the fishcakes in the ramen. Even though she could only see you for a couple of minutes, she truly loved you, Naruto. Don't forget that."

Naruto tried to be strong. He didn't want to cry anymore. He wanted to be happy, because his parents had loved him. "So what are these kunai and scrolls for?" The frog summoner walked to the boy and grabbed one of the kunai. "See this kunai. It has a seal on it. You can use these kunai to perform a jutsu that your father developed: The **hirashin no jutsu**." Naruto got a smile on his face now. "In that scroll you can read how to learn and perform the jutsu. I can't show you how to do it, because even I couldn't master the jutsu. So far only the fourth has managed to do it. We want you to learn this jutsu, Naruto. It will make you much stronger and we need your power. Your father did great things in the great ninja war, because of this jutsu. If you master it, you will be another step closer to become hokage." Naruto's face lit up now and when he heard that he could become hokage with this jutsu, his mind was set.

"Okay, I'll master this jutsu as soon as possible. I am a future hokage, so it shouldn't be too hard, right?" The old woman picked up a piece of paper and gave it to him. "You don't have to go on missions for a while. Just focus on learning the jutsu. I want you to come to me when you learned it. I'm sure you can do it, Naruto. I didn't acknowledge that you will become hokage for nothing. Now if you will excuse me, I have a lot of work to do." Naruto nodded and turned around. "Oh, and Naruto. Don't tell anyone about this. The people will only panic and we don't want that. Also tell Sakura to train on her own for a while. I need to plan how to deal with all of this, so I can't have her here."

Naruto opened the door. "Sure, baachan." He exited the room and closed the door behind him. Tsunade immediately opened a drawer and grabbed a bottle of sake. _'I hope that I have made the right choice.' _

Naruto walked down the stairs. He thought back at everything that was said to him. He began to feel a bit sad again. He finally knew who his father was and he was really happy for that. But he had wanted him to be alive. He felt even more lonely now than he had ever been. He became even sadder when he thinks about the war that might begin soon. Wars were never good. It would mean that he could lose some of the people important to him. He could lose his most important person. He could lose Sakura. He clenched his fist. "There's no way that I'm going to let her die. I will protect her. That's why I am going to master this jutsu quickly." He opened the box and took the scroll in his hand. He tried to make sense of it, but Naruto wasn't the smartest person. In the academy he had always been the one with the lowest grades, he had always been the dumb, stupid boy. _'No worries, I always learn with my body, so why should this time be different?' _He didn't quite convince himself though. The sad look on his face never left him.

Sakura was getting impatient. She wanted to spend some more time with Naruto today, but she had been waiting for over an hour now. _'Where is that baka? Maybe he jumped out of the window and is he sitting on his couch already. I hope that's not the case, because I'll kill him.' _She was about to walk away when she heard something behind her. She turned around and saw yellow spiky hair. She was about to scold him for making her wait, when she saw the sad expression on his face. She forgot all about her anger and walked to the boy. She didn't see Naruto often like this. She only saw his sad face when things were really bad. She put a hand on his shoulder and saw that the boy was surprised. "Sakura-chan."

Sakura tried to smile a bit, but found it hard, because he was looking so damn sad. "What's wrong, Naruto?" Naruto hit himself in his mind. _'Why do I have to be so sad? I can't tell her and I hate to lie to her. Damn it, I've got no choice.' _He removed her hand from his shoulder. "It's nothing, Sakura-chan. Baachan just told me that I have to do a lot of training. We don't have to go on missions for some time either." Sakura looked in his face and saw that he tried to smile a bit. She didn't buy it though, but decided to play along. "Bah, I don't want to train. Shishou wears me out with her so called training."

"She also told me that she will not be training you for a while. You have to train on your own. She has important business to do." Sakura was shocked by this. Her teacher never let her train on her own. Something had to be up. _'I'll go ask her later. This might be good. We can train together, just like before he left.' _

'**_Yeah, I want to see that fine ass of him. Ask him, ask him! Shannaro!' _**Sakura once again sweat dropped because of her inner self. She couldn't help but think that her inner self was a big pervert. She agreed with her though on the point to ask him to train together. "Naruto. Let's train together." She said it with a genuine smile on her face. She was surprised however when the boy turned around. "Sorry, Sakura-chan, I want to train alone." He jumped into the trees and he was out of her sight before she could say anything.

Sakura just stood there for more than a minute before it finally hit her. She had been rejected by Naruto. He would rather train alone than with her. She became very sad and started to walk towards her home. _'So it is true. He doesn't like me anymore. He doesn't care about me anymore. I can't blame him. All the times that I've scolded him and hit him. He must think that I am a heartless monster.' _A small tear ran down her cheek. She didn't know that she would feel this bad after being rejected by the boy. Although it wasn't a true rejection, he just didn't want to train with her. "I'm just jumping to conclusions. He just wants to train alone, nothing is wrong with that, is it. It doesn't mean anything." She wiped away the tear and walked home with a forced smile on her face.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Naruto had been training his new jutsu for a few weeks now. There were a lot of craters around him and the boy was panting. His clothes were wrecked and he had bruises and cuts all over his body. He had a confident smile on his face though. _'I'm finally getting it. I need to focus all of my chakra on the kunai and then move it all at once. It is very hard and it takes a lot of concentration and chakra, but I think that I can use it. My range is still very small though. How did my father managed to do this move all the time. I don't get it. I guess my dad wasn't a genius for nothing, eh.' _He tried to gather some chakra, but the moment he made a seal, he fell backwards and landed with his back on the ground. He lost consciousness not long behind that.

Sakura was walking home from one of the training grounds. She hated to train on her own. She ended up doing some stupid taijutsu training, but she knew that it wasn't helping her at all. She now walked along the training grounds of team 10. She knew that Ino and Chouji were out on a mission with Asuma. She did see two people sitting down by a tree though. She camouflaged her chakra and moved a little closer. Her lips curled into a smile when she saw that it were Temari and Shikamaru. They were sitting very close next to another. Sakura's smile became even bigger when she saw that Shikamaru used his hands to cup the girl's cheeks. Temari didn't seem to object and their lips touched. Sakura decided to talk to them about this later and left them alone.

She hadn't seen her team mate at all lately. It looked like he was avoiding her for some reason. Whenever she started to talk to him, he told her that he had to train and he left. She didn't know what was wrong. He said everything was okay, but she had known the boy long enough to know that he was lying. She looked around and saw that she was on the training grounds of team 7. She trained at the training grounds of the hokage nowadays, so she hadn't been here for a while. She remembered all the good times she had spend here. Her head shot up when she saw something on the ground. She walked towards the orange object on the ground and saw that it was Naruto. Her eyes widened and she kneeled next to the boy. He was out cold. "Naruto! Hey, are you alright! Naruto!" She saw that he heavily injured and started her medical ninjutsu right away. She saw the cuts and bruises heal very fast. She had never seen injuries heal that fast. She was amazed to say the least. She stopped with her medical ninjutsu when she saw that he slowly opened his eyes. "Sa…Sakura-chan?"

"Naruto, you're okay. Thank god!" Naruto sat up and looked at his friend. He was surprised when he saw tears in her eyes. "What's wrong, Sakura-chan?" Sakura became angry and hit the boy on his head. "When I saw you lying here, I though that you were dead. I healed you and I saw that you were alright. Of course I started to cry. Why do you have to be so irresponsible? I don't know what I would do if you would die." Naruto was happy that she cared so much for him. She was really precious to him. He put his hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eyes. "I won't die until I become hokage."

Sakura let out a small smile. _'At least he is the same baka as always.' _She looked around and saw the destruction around her. _'Did he do all of this. Must be some workout he has been doing these days.' _She turned to the boy again and saw that he was avoiding her gaze again. "Naruto, what kind of training are you doing here?"

The boy still didn't look at her. He wanted to tell her so badly, but he knew that he couldn't. "Nothing big, just the regular routine." A vein appeared on her forehead now. He was lying to her again. She couldn't take it anymore. She needed to have answers now. "Don't give me that shit! Tell me what you are doing!" Naruto turned to face her and saw that she was really pissed. He had ever seen her like this before. "It's noth…" He was interrupted by her as she pushed him away.

"Don't lie to me! I know that you're hiding things from me! Why won't you tell me anything! You've been avoiding me ever since we came back! What's wrong?! What did I do wrong?!" Naruto was completely stunned by her words. He really wanted to tell her, he really did. But he didn't want to make her worried. He saw that she was crying now. "Please tell me, Naruto. You can trust me!"

Naruto didn't know what to do. He didn't want to see her cry. He couldn't see her beautiful eyes anymore because of the tears. He hadn't been able to see her much lately and now that he did see her, she was crying. He felt a pain in his chest. "You didn't do anything wrong." She looked up and saw the sad expression on his face. "And I am really sorry, but I can't tell you. I made a promise to not tell you."

Sakura didn't understand. What could be so important that he had to hide it from even her? "You can tell me everything, Naruto. We're best friends aren't we?" He was surprised when she grabbed one of his hands with both of hers. "I'll be there for you, just like you've been there for me. So just tell me. I want to know if I can do something to help you." He saw the genuine look in her face. _'I can at least tell her about the jutsu.' _He gave her a small smile and decided to tell her. "Okay, I will tell you why I have been training alone and with this intensity." Her lips curled a little bit and he could see that she appreciated it. He was about to talk when he spotted a bird with a scroll on his back in the sky. He thought it was nothing important, but after second look his eyes widened. It was the messenger bird from the hidden sand village!

He quickly stood up. "Shit. Not already!" He realised that he said it out loud and mentally hit himself. He looked down to see a confused Sakura. He reached out his hand to help her up. She smiled and accepted his help. She stood next to the boy and saw that he had a troubled look on his face. _'First he tells me that he will tell me what he has been doing and then all of a sudden he jumps up.' _She didn't understand. "What's wrong, Naruto. You were about to tell me. Don't say that you changed your mind."

Naruto glanced to his side and saw a worried expression on her face. He was finally ready to tell her and now this. "The hell with it. You have the right to know." He grabbed her hand and started to run. Sakura didn't understand it, but she let herself get dragged along. "We are going to the hokage and we will tell you everything. We have no choice. It seems that it has already started. Come on, we must hurry." Sakura didn't understand any of it. His words made no sense, but she decided to listen to him. She got the feeling something bad was going to happen soon.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

I decided to bring Gaara into the story too. I have decided on most of the couples now. Next chapter will be a chapter with a lot of fighting and such. I am not rushing the narusaku and the other pairings. I want them to build their relation slowly. If I wanted them to get together right away, then I would have written a one-shot. But don't worry, they will get together.


	10. The spirit of fire

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any character from the show.

Thank you for all the nice reviews guys. You are the best! And to those who are wondering. Yes, Sakura will come to know Naruto's big secret. I really hadn't expected that people would find my story good enough to read. But seeing all of these reviews…It brings tears into my eyes. There isn't much fluff in the story yet, but what do you expect. They aren't together yet. I do'n't want this to be a story with narusaku fluff and nothing else. Well, I won't rant on anymore. Have fun reading the story.

"Hello": regular talking  
_'Hello'_: thinking  
'**_Hello'_**: Inner Sakura and Kyuubi talking

Don't forget to R&R ;)

**Enjoy!**

Naruto and Sakura were running towards the tower of the hokage. Sakura looked around and saw that there were more guards than usual. She saw that Naruto had a worried look on his face. _'Just what is he hiding from me? It must be really something.' _She saw that the boy was increasing his speed again. "Hurry, Sakura-chan." She listened to him and increased her speed too. Within a few minutes they had reached the tower. Naruto didn't even bother to ask if he could enter. He just barged right in. He rushed up the stairs in a speed unrivalled. Sakura had trouble to keep up with him, but she did everything she could. She needed to know what was happening here.

They reached the top of the building and both had trouble breathing. He opened the door within knocking and saw Tsunade, Shizune and Jiraiya standing around her desk. Tsunade saw the boy and immediately walked to him. She was about to speak to him when she saw her pink haired apprentice in the doorway. "What are you doing here, Sakura?" She said it with a stern look in her face. Sakura saw this and looked down. Naruto saw that Sakura was sad and gave the hokage a serious look. "Sakura-chan had the right to know. Even if you send her away now, I am going to tell her later anyway." Sakura's head shot up again and she was surprised that the by was standing up for her. She started to smile. The female hokage sighed and nodded. "Alright, Sakura, you can stay."

She walked back to her office and sat down. "I guess the reason that you are here is that you saw the messenger bird of the sand village." Sakura was confused. She hadn't seen any birds. She glanced over to her side and saw the boy nod. She figured that he must have seen it. "It is a good thing that you came. I was about to send Shizune to get you. Your suspicions were right. The kazekage has sent us a warning. His spies saw that their entire military force is coming our way. He sent us this letter to warn us. The war is about to begin."

Sakura was shocked. "A war!" She walked over to Naruto and pulled him at his arm. "What do you mean a war? Did you know this?" Naruto sighed and nodded. "In the sand village you guys had to wait for me, remember? Gaara told me that the hidden mist was preparing to attack Konoha. When I came back to Konoha I spoke with baachan and she told me that I couldn't tell anyone about it." Sakura was shocked. She knew something was up, but she hadn't expected something like this. She let go of his arm and let her arms fall down.

"We didn't want to start a panic. We decided to make preparations without letting everybody know." Tsunade said when she saw how confused her apprentice was. She handed Naruto the letter and sighed. "They are on their way, right now. They will be here this afternoon. So we don't have much time. Kakashi and Gai are gathering the jounin and chuunin right now. We will tell them out strategy then."

Naruto stepped forward after reading the letter. "So we are going to make a pre-emptive strike. We are going to meet them before they can reach Konoha." The hokage nodded. "That's right. We don't want the village to get destroyed again. The mist ninja won't expect us to attack them head on too. They have no idea that we know all of this. In the sound war we were taken by surprise, but this time we will be prepared." She destroyed the desk with her fist.

Sakura was processing everything in her head. She now understood why they had to keep quiet. She stepped forward and started to speak: "Wouldn't it be better if we wait for them here? The village might take some damage, but we will have the advantage then, because we know this place like no other."

Naruto gave the letter to the hokage again and turned to his friend. "That would be the best course of action if we didn't have a plan already." Sakura raised her brow. "Gaara will be helping us. He is coming out way. The plan is to attack them from two sides. We attack from the front and Gaara will attack them from behind. Those mist ninja won't know what hit them before it is too late." He said while grinning and raising his fisted hand in the air. Sakura was amazed by this. _'They have been planning this all behind my back. And not only behind my back…they didn't tell anyone else. Tsunade-shishou and the kazekage must really trust Naruto to tell him all of this.' _

The door to her office suddenly opened and Kakashi entered the room. "Hokage-sama, everyone is waiting for you." The old woman nodded and stood up. Kakashi walked out of the doorway and Tsunade followed him. "Come on. It's time to prepare our assault." Everyone followed Tsunade out of the room.

They walked to the meeting room. Everyone who was a chuunin or jounin was there. Naruto saw Shikamaru and sat down next to him. Shikamaru didn't know what was going on and he didn't seem to be the only one. Everyone seemed confused. Meetings like this were only called when something big was about to happen.

Sakura sat down next to Naruto and was lost in thoughts. She had always known that something like this could happen. She had only lived in times of peace and knew that she was lucky for that. She had talked to her shishou who had lived in times of war. She had told her that a lot of people precious to her had died in wars. Sakura became scared now. She didn't know if she was ready for this. She didn't know if she was strong enough. She gazed through the room and saw all the people she could lose. She saw her friends, her mentor, her mother and lastly she saw her best friend. _'I have to protect them, I can't let them die!'_

Tsunade began her speech. Naruto noticed that everyone once in a while the whole room started to gasp. He didn't want to listen to the whole speech, because she had told him everything just a few minutes ago already. He looked to his left and saw that Shikamaru was processing all the knowledge he was gaining. _'He must be thinking of a strategy already.' _He quickly looked to his right when he felt that his best friend was trembling. _'She must be scared. I mean, we all are. We try to act though, but deep inside we are all scared to lose our lived and important people out there.' _He did the only thing that came to his mind and placed his hand on her shoulder. She glanced to his side and looked into his eyes. He gave her a small smile. "Everything will be okay, Sakura-chan." She moved her gaze to the ground again and Naruto didn't know what to do, so he decided to leave her alone.

Tsunade had finished telling everyone about the situation. The plan was to attack them from two sides. They wouldn't attack with everything they had, but a part of the shinobi would stay behind to keep enemies that are able to break through from entering the village and to aid the rest. Almost everyone had left to get ready for their job except Shikamaru, Sakura and Naruto. Tsunade said that she wanted to talk to them, so they stayed behind.

She walked to the three chuunin and gave them a serious look. "Shikamaru, you will be the leader in the attacking team. You are the smartest shinobi in the village and I believe in you. I am going to stay behind in the village, because I am the best medical ninja here. And I will be giving out commands from the village too. Don't worry; Jiraiya is coming with you to help you. He may look like a pervert at times, but he is one of the best shinobi in the world. I want you to attack the enemy, but don't go too far, until the sand ninja are there. The village of the mist has a lot more men than we do. We don't want to lose anyone, so don't do something drastic, okay."

Shikamaru was happy that she was so trusting in him. She gave her a big smile and turned around. "It may be troublesome, but I will do everything in my power to do as you wish." Shikamaru walked out of the room to go to his men.

Tsunade now turned to the second boy that had to stay behind. "Naruto. You're going to the front too. You're one of the strongest fighters we have to offer. Although you are still chuunin level, you are able to perform many jounin level jutsu and I really believe in you. With you there, I have nothing to worry about. You are a future hokage after all, so go show everyone what a future hokage can do."

Naruto gave her a huge smile. He was so happy that she acknowledged that he would gain the title of hokage one day. He saluted the hokage. "I will not let you down, baachan!"

A vein appeared on her forehead, but she let out a smile anyway. "Stop calling me that. If it was any other time, I would have sent you flying about now, but I guess you are lucky." Her expression became dead serious all of a sudden though. "Naruto, how is your jutsu coming? Have you mastered it already?" Sakura didn't know that he was learning a new jutsu and was quite surprised by the revelation. She was even more surprised that the hokage knew about it. She suddenly realised that the jutsu was the reason that Naruto wanted to train alone. The jutsu must have been the reason why he was out cold earlier today.

She looked over to Naruto's side and saw a sad expression on his face. "I'm not quite there yet. I am able to perform the jutsu, but I still have to be close to the kunai. The jutsu still takes a lot of chakra. I am still far from mastering it. I think I should use it as a last resort. I'm sorry." Tsunade was taken back by his apology. "You don't have to apologise, you fool. It is one of the hardest jutsu to master. It's alright. We will get through this without the jutsu too." Naruto raised his head again and saw that the old woman gave him a smile. "I'm still proud of you, my boy." Naruto's eyes widened when she said it. At times he really saw his hokage as his own mother. Sakura also saw how happy the boy was and was so thankful for Tsunade being there for her friend. She was still curious about the new jutsu, but decided to ask him about it later. There were more important matters right now.

Tsunade now turned to her apprentice. She remained silent for a while. She knew that the pink haired girl wasn't going to like what she was about to tell her. "Sakura, you're going to stay here with me." Sakura started to frown and her inner self was on fire now. Did she hear it right? "What are you talking about shishou? I am a strong fighter as well. I should be there at the front. I am no weakling. I know that I can help!" Tsunade sighed and walked over to the girl. "Sakura, you are one of the best medical ninjas we have. I need your help here. We don't just want to win the war, we also want no casualties. And that's why we are here. There's no use in arguing. You're staying here and that's final!" She turned around and walked out of the room.

Sakura dropped her head. Naruto saw how sad and disappointed the girl was and walked over to her and he placed a hand on her right shoulder. She saw it, but was so angry that she removed it hand. "Why can't you guys see that I am no longer the weak little Sakura? Why don't you believe in me, why don't you trust me? I just want to be there for my important people. I want to be there for you, Naruto. I haven't been training all of these years for nothing. You had to protect me all the time when we were little. I just want to be there for you guys now too!"

Naruto was shocked by her words. _'She is the same as me. She just wants to be acknowledged too.' _He saw that she was crying and he hated that sight. He placed his hand on her shoulder again, but this time more forcefully. She was surprised by this and turned to face him. She saw an angry expression on his face. She was about to say something, but he beat her to it: "Sakura-chan, I don't know why the hell you keep saying that we think that you are weak. We don't, okay! We want you to stay behind, because you can save lives that way! We know that you're strong and we know that you want to be there for us. And the best way to do that right now is to stay here! Stop whining and show me the strong Sakura that I know!"

Sakura had never seen the boy explode like that. She was shocked to say the least. She suddenly realised that she had been crying again. She wiped away the tears and clenched her fist while giving the boy a smile. "You're right, Naruto." The boy released her shoulder and nodded. "Now I know that I don't have to worry. Everything will be fine with you here." Sakura looked into his blue eyes and saw that he was speaking the truth. Tears began to fill her eyes and she placed her arms around his waist and buried her head in his chest. Naruto embraced her too and let her cry while moving his hand through her hair. She stopped crying, but didn't escape the embrace. Instead she decided to whisper something in his ear: "When you come back, I might take on your offer to go on a date." She broke from the hug and saw that the boy was stunned. She smiled and turned to go to her shishou.

'**_Nice one! That body is fine! The best way to win is to take the initiative! Shannaro!' _**Sakura smiled as she agreed with her inner self. There was no denying it no. _'I really like him!' _She walked to the hokage while being as confident as ever.

Naruto still stood in the room. He didn't know if what had just happened was an illusion or not. He pinched himself and he didn't wake up. It meant that everything was all real. He started to jump while shouting: "I'm going to go on a date with Sakura-chan!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Naruto stood in the group to leave the village. All preparations at the village had been made and it was time to set the plan into motion. Almost all of his friends were on the attacking team. Of the Konoha eleven only Sakura and Shino stayed behind. Shino had to stay behind, because his bugs could scan the area and see the enemy coming. The yellow haired boy saw that Shikamaru was giving out orders for everyone to go. Jiraiya and Kakashi took the lead and Shikamaru and Naruto would be the last to follow. Jiraiya would be able to give orders on the front and Shikamaru on the back. They were moving with a big group, so this was important.

He could see that Shikamaru was saying goodbye to the girl from the sand village. He thought her name was Temari or something. Sakura hit him a few times for forgetting her name, but he couldn't help it. He was pretty bad with names. He also remembered that Sakura had told him that the sand kunoichi had a thing for the lazy ninja. He started to smile when he saw that they embraced each other. _'It seems that you were right, Sakura-chan. I would give everything to be in your arms like that. Please be okay.' _The two broke from the hug and separated ways. She was about to run towards the rest of the people who were staying behind when Naruto called her. She turned around and saw the boy standing before her with a kunai in his hand. "Give this to Sakura-chan for me. I forgot to give it to her. Tell her that she needs to have this kunai by her side…always. Please give it to her."

Temari didn't know what was so special about this kunai. She looked and saw that the kunai had a weird shape and a seal on it, but why did she have to give it to Sakura. Was there some special meaning behind it? She didn't know and frankly she didn't care. "I'll give it to her, you have my word."

"Thanks a lot!" He handed her the kunai and turned around. "Don't worry about Shikamaru. He's a though guy, he'll come back to you." Her eyes widened at the statement. She started to blush and looked at the boys. They nodded and jumped in the trees, following the rest of the group. She stared into the distance for a while before turning around and heading into the village. _'Please be alright, you lazy bum.'_

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The hokage looked around the village and saw that everyone was at their position. The combat fighters were standing at the gate to fight the enemies who got passed the attacking team and the medical ninjas were placed more at the centre of the village. This was her first war as hokage and she hoped that it would be the last too. She had seen enough wars in her long life. She was an old woman now, although she didn't look like it. She knows what war can do to people. Some even get a mental breakdown after a war. But the worst thing is that many people die. Many people lose someone important to them. She too had lost many people in wars: Her grandfather, her lover, her brother and many more. She didn't want to lose any more people important to her. Two of the people most important to her were standing behind her: her two apprentices, Sakura and Shizune. She was going to protect them with her life. She couldn't protect the two other people most important to her from here though. Naruto was strong enough to protect himself. She knew that, but she was still worried. She didn't let it show much, but she saw the white haired sannin as an important person too. He had always been there for her. He was always there to comfort her when she was feeling sad. _'Please protect him, Jiraiya. I don't want to lose another important person.'_

They were waiting for the last person to come: Temari of the sand. She would come back when the attack team had left. By the time that she would return the fight could start any moment. The mist ninja had been moving faster than expected. Kakashi had sent out Pakkun to see where they were and it was revealed that they were already close to the village. It seems that the team would have to do a little while longer without the help of the sand village. It would be another six hours or so before they would arrive. She knew that this would result in more wounded and more deaths. She turned around to speak to her people. "As you might have heard, the mist ninjas have been moving faster then we expected. Our team will have to fight with them alone for quite a while. I need you guys at your best. I expect to see a lot of wounded people being brought here, so you need to stay sharp!" She saw that everybody nodded and turned around to see the kunoichi of the sand.

Temari gave the hokage a quick nod and walked past her. She walked right to the pink haired kunoichi standing behind her. Sakura was surprised when the sand kunoichi headed her way. Sure, they were friends now, but it wasn't the time for some chitchat. She was even more surprised when she saw that the sand woman had a weird kunai in her hand. "Sakura, I promised to give this to you."

Sakura raised her eyebrow. Why would someone give her a kunai? She had enough of those already. "Who gave it to you, Temari-san?"

The woman let out a small smile. "That Naruto kid gave it to me. He didn't give me the reason and I don't know what is so special about this kunai, but he seemed really serious about this. You have to keep it by your side….always." Sakura didn't understand his motives, but she did know that she could trust Naruto. He would have a good reason for it. She accepted the kunai and put it into her kunai pouch. "If Naruto says that I need to keep it by my side, I will do so!" Tsunade had heard and seen everything and she knew what it meant. She gave out a small smile, before turning around to wait for everything to begin.

Shikamaru and the rest of the group were stopped by Shikamaru. They didn't see the enemy just yet, so most of the ninja were confused. Shikamaru and Naruto ran towards the front and made hand signs for Jiraiya to come too. Shikamaru had always been a master tactician and just now he proved it again. "This is the best area to wait for them. Look around, we can set up a trap for them here. They may have more men than we do, but we've got the advantage."

Jiraiya looked around and saw that it was indeed a great location for a fight. There were a lot of trees, but there was enough space to fight too. He didn't know what the boy meant by the trap though. Sure, he knew that traps worked against small teams, but the enemy was an entire army right now. He decided to listen to the boy. Although he was pretty smart himself, he had heard from the hokage that this was the smartest boy from the village, maybe even the smartest boy in the world.

Shikamaru said something to Kakashi and the grey haired jounin left. This confused Naruto and the white haired sannin. The dog summoner came back a little while later with by his side the newest jounin of the village: Hyuuga Neji. Shikamaru walked over to the boy. "Neji, I want you to use your byakugan to scan the area. I want to know how much time we have left. Neji nodded and activated his byakugan. Everything turned grey and he could see through the trees. He suddenly saw a huge blue blur. They were close. His eyes turned back to normal and he turned to the lazy ninja. "They are pretty close. I'd say that we have about an hour, before they are here.

Shikamaru let out a confident smile. "Alright, that is more than enough time." He jumped in one of the trees and started to yell: "I want all the team leaders to come to me this instant!" The lazy chuunin had divided the group into eight teams. That would make the battle much easier, because Shikamaru wasn't able to give everyone commands. So he decided to give commands to the leaders once in a while. He jumped down from the tree when he saw that the people he called for had arrived. Around him were standing Naruto, Kakashi, Jiraiya, Neji, Gai, Asuma and Kurenai. The lazy chuunin himself was the last leader. "Okay, here's the plan. We are going to lead the enemy into a huge bomb. We are going to make a circle full of explosion notes. When they are into the field, we are going to let them explode and then we are going to make our move. This has to be done quick and precisely. I want Naruto's and Neji's teams to place the explosions tags on the north side. You guys are going to attack the enemies from behind after the notes went off. Then I want Kakashi's team to do the same on the east side and I want Gai's team to do the same on the west side. The rest of the teams will focus on the south side and they will attack the enemy head on. Now I want Kurenai's team to place a genjutsu on the area, so that the enemy won't see that they are walking into a trap. After you have placed the explosion notes, you will have to go about 200 meters backwards. The explosion will be enormous and I don't want any Konoha ninjas to die in the blast. Got it! Now go, we have less than an hour to set the plan into motion. Scatter!" The leaders went back to their teams and a few minutes later the teams were doing their jobs.

Naruto sat down and sighed. His team was finally ready. They were waiting for the enemy to come. He couldn't help but feel that he was being watched. And he didn't mean in a good way. He turned around and saw the last person he wanted to be on a team with. In front of him was standing the mother of his best friend. The mother of Sakura was in his team. He cursed his luck, because he knew how much the woman hated him. The woman walked to the boy and sat down next to him. Naruto didn't know what to expect so he did the only thing that came to his mind. "Hello, Haruno-san."

The woman didn't respond. He didn't know if this was a good sign or a bad one. He was about to stand up when the woman grabbed his wrist and pulled him back down. "I don't know what you have done to make it to team leader. But I want to tell you that I don't trust you, you monster. If I see you do something funny around here, I won't hesitate to kill you. My daughter is always talking how brave and strong you are. I want to see it for myself." The woman stood up and walked away, leaving behind a confused and scared Naruto.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The mist ninja were still running through a huge forest. The mizukage was at the centre of the army and he had told his men that they were almost there. He knew that the village of Konoha had defeated them in a war some time ago and now it was time for revenge. His father was killed in the war by the hokage of that time, the third. He was happy when he heard that the man had died by the hands of Orochimaru, but he felt sad too, because he wouldn't get the chance to avenge his father anymore. He was praised as the strongest mizukage of all times. He knew that konoha had a new hokage now and he was surprised to find out that it was a woman. He still remembered the time that he found out, he couldn't stop laughing. Women were for the sink, they shouldn't be brought into combat. They would only get in the way.

The leader of the mist village looked around. He watched on the map and was confused. They should be able to see the village by now. What was going on? Then it hit him. They had walked into a welcome party. "Everyone, hold your ground!"

Shikamaru let out an evil smile. "Too late!" He made a seal and the explosion notes started to burn.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sakura was getting worried. She hadn't said anything to her mother before she left. She was still angry at her for being mean to her friend. But now she realised that she could lose her today. She prayed to the gods that everyone was going to be alright. She was broken out of her thoughts when she heard a big explosion. She saw a lot of smoke coming from the place where the battle was supposed to take place. She didn't know what had happened, but she did know that that explosion was big enough to destroy the entire village. She looked around and saw that she wasn't the only one who was surprised. Even the hokage hadn't expected this. The old woman clenched her fist. "What the hell are they doing!?"

Sakura became a bit scared. She couldn't do anything to help them now. She wanted to be there for her important people. She didn't know what to think now. They could have been killed in that explosion. What if that was an attack of the mist ninja? What if everyone has been killed in that explosion? What if they would come here in full force? She shook her head and clenched her fist. _'There's no way that Naruto would go down so easily, mom won't either. She told me that she was one of the strongest kunoichi of her time. I believe in them. Show those bastards what the leaf ninja can do!' _She decided that it wouldn't do anyone any good if she would worry this much and decided to do anything in her power to help them, even if it meant to just believe in them. She became discouraged however when she saw the first casualties and wounded being brought into the village. They had a special team of ninja who would bring the wounded to the village. She looked at the wounded ninja and sighed in relief that it wasn't anyone she knew. She hit herself mentally and cursed herself for even thinking that. She made some seals and a green light started to come from her hands. She placed her hands on the wound on the man's chest and she started to heal him. She looked up and saw more and more wounded ninja being brought in. _'Come back safe…'_

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Naruto used his kunai to pierce the heart of another mist ninja. Blood spat into his face, but he didn't wipe it away. He had not time for it. He was attacked from behind again. He jumped up and the mist ninja missed him. Naruto landed behind him and knocked the guy unconscious. It had been going on like this for more than thirty minutes now. Naruto hated it, he hated to kill. He hadn't killed much before this war. He believed in the light that everyone had and he always tried to persuade his enemies to give up and live. But this was a war. In order to survive you had to kill your enemies. He felt another ninja coming from behind and quickly turned around. It was too late. The ninja pierced him with a kunai. The mist ninja was surprised when the boy turned into a log. "Kawarimi no jutsu!" He quickly turned around, but the last thing he saw was a kunai heading towards his heart.

Shikamaru was fighting along side Chouji and Ino. He looked around and saw a true bloodbath. There were bodies on the ground everywhere. He killed a lot of them himself with his new jutsu 'kagenui'. He was able to turn his shadow into sharp knives and fire them at his opponents. It was a powerful new technique. Even his father hadn't been able to perform the jutsu. He saw that a lot of the konoha shinobi were at their limit. They were being pushed back and he knew it. Their numbers were too great, they were too strong. He ducked to dodge a flying kunai and threw some shuriken in the direction the kunai came from. He was surprised when the man was behind him in a flash. He knew he couldn't dodge the attack, so prepared to take the hit. The hit never came and he turned around. Chouji had the man in one of his huge hands and squashed him. _'Man…this is so troublesome. When is the kazekage going to show up? We won't be able to hold them off much longer at this rate. Almost a third of the shinobi are already wounded or dead.' _

Gai and Kakashi were fighting back to back. They were fighting the elite guards of the mizukage. They were quite strong. Kakashi had to use his sharingan and Gai had to open a few gates sometimes. Asuma and Kurenai had been knocked out already and they have been brought back to the village already. Kakashi looked around and began to worry a bit. The trap had killed a lot of the ninjas, but they still had a lot of them left. Most of them were jounin, so the chuunin of Konoha were outmatched. Kakashi jumped up to dodge two kunai. He made some seals. "Katon: goukakyuu no jutsu! He created a huge fireball and killed three men with the attack. He could feel that he was running out of chakra. He saw the konoha ninja fall one by one. "I won't be defeated! I will protect the village that my sensei died protecting!"

Naruto was even forced to use his powerful techniques now. It was draining his chakra. The training with the sannin had paid off. Without the training he would have been killed long ago. He kicked a mist ninja in the balls and stabbed him with a kunai. He was soaked in blood. He had a wound on his leg and blood was coming from his stomach too. His clothes were ripped and his chakra was low. He still had some left, but it was rare for the boy to use so much of his chakra. He saw that more than a dozen mist ninja were coming his way and he made the cross seal. "Kage bunshin no jutsu!" He made about twenty clones and sent them after the mist ninja. He stayed behind with one of them and prepared one of the jutsu that he had learned on the training with the frog tamer. It was like a rasengan, but much bigger. He couldn't control it by himself, so he had to use a clone too. His clones were being defeated and he ran towards the enemies with the big sphere in his and his clone's hand. They pushed the move forward into the gut of one of the ninja. "Odama rasengan!" The explosion was so big, that the other mist ninja were blown away too.

Naruto landed on the ground and had trouble standing up. He reached into his pocket and took out a soldier pill. He didn't hesitate a second and swallowed the bitter pill. _'God…can't they make these pills ramen flavoured?' _He could feel the new chakra flowing through his body, but he knew he couldn't fight much longer anymore. Although his chakra was back, his physical strength was giving out on him.

He looked around and saw that a lot of his team members had died already or had been wounded. He could only see five members of his team. He saw that Sakura's mother was still there. He let out a breath of relief. He didn't like the woman, but he didn't want her to die for Sakura's sake. She wielded a sharp katana and used genjutsu. Naruto now knew where his friend got the talent in that area from. He saw that the woman was tired now too. She defeated the enemies with her sword skills alone now. _'She must be out of chakra.' _He was still amazed by her strength. She was one of the strongest women he had ever seen.

Naruto was broken out of his thought when he saw a water jutsu coming his way. He quickly made some seals to counter it. "Air bullet!" He shot out a bullet of air. The air and water collided and it turned into ice. The lump of ice fell on the ground and he was surprised when he saw two kunai coming his way. He had to jump backwards to evade them. The kunai missed and hit a tree. His eyes widened when he saw that there were explosion notes attached to the kunai. He ran away, but still was thrown back by the explosion. The ninja approached him, but he managed to form a rasengan is his hand before the enemy reached him. He evaded the blow to his had and pushed the rasengan into his chest. The ninja spat some blood into his face and fell down, dead. Naruto wiped away the blood with his sleeve.

He suddenly heard a scream and he turned around. His eyes widened when he saw what had happened. A black sword had pierced Sakura's mother. "Nooo!" He enhanced his speed with chakra and kicked away the mist shinobi who had pierced her with the sword. The woman started to fall down, but Naruto caught her before she hit the ground. He quickly pulled the sword out of her and laid her down. He looked to her wound and started to frown. The sword had hit her at a vital area. When he looked closer, he could see some purple liquid in the wound. _'Damn, that weapon was poisoned. This isn't good!' _

The woman looked him in the eyes and saw that he was worried. "So…h..how bad is it?" She tried to get up, but she was surprised when he stopped her. "Don't get up. You've been hit right next to your hart. You have been poisoned too. You're not able to move. We need to get you to the medics as soon as possible!" The woman looked down and started to cough out some blood. "I won't be able to beat you to a pulp after all, eh."

Naruto frowned. He didn't appreciate her humour. "I'm getting you to the medics." He picked up the woman and started to carry her. The woman tried to resist, but she didn't have any strength left. They were almost there, when he saw three kunai flying their way. The woman saw it too. "Just let me go. I'm already done for."

"No! There is still someone who needs you out there! Don't you give up on me!" He knew that he couldn't dodge the kunai anymore and he couldn't make seals with the woman in his hands. He did the only thing that he could do. He turned his back to the kunai and took the blows. Sakura's mother couldn't believe it. He was willing to give up his life to protect her. She looked into his eyes and saw that he tried to give her a smile. It didn't work though. He started to run again and reached the medical ninjas. He put the woman on the stretcher and took her hand into his. She gave him a small smile. "My katana. They won't take it with them. I want you to guard it. It was the weapon of my husband. It has been in possession of the Haruno family for a very long time. When I have died, please give it to my daughter. The weapon will be a mighty weapon for her." She coughed up some blood again.

Naruto started to cry a little now. "Don't say that you are going to die. You're not. You still have so much to live for. Sakura-chan needs you! But I will do as you wish. I will take this sword with me." He pulled out a scroll and sealed the sword in it. He closed the scroll again and put it in his kunai holder. He looked the medics in the eyes and nodded. He turned around to go back to the battle field, when he was held by his wrist. He turned around and saw that the woman wanted to say something. "I am sorry for the way that I have treated you. I saw you as the monster that is sealed inside of you. But now I was able to see the real you. You're nothing like a monster. I've been such a fool all of this time. You are a great person, Naruto. I really want to apologise. I can now see why my daughter is so fond of you. Take care of her, will you…" She closed her eyes and her hand fell down to her side. Naruto's eyes widened. "Haruno-san!"

The medics ran to her side and checked if she was still alive. Naruto couldn't keep his face dry. The tears kept coming out of his eyes. He knew what she meant to Sakura. He looked up when the medics picked up the stretcher. "She is still alive. She is unconscious now. But at this rate she doesn't have much time left. We must hurry!" Naruto nodded and they started to move to the gates of Konoha. _'Please be okay, Haruno-san!'_

Naruto got back to the fighting area and saw that things had even got worse. They were outnumbered. Every Konoha nin had to fight at least two mist nin. He could see blood and bodies everywhere. He looked around and saw that his team was practically defeated. He decided to go help Neji and his team, seeing that Kakashi and Gai were holding their own.

At this moment Jiraiya was facing off with the mizukage. Both had trouble breathing. They were evenly matched. The mizukage made some seals and suddenly a huge water dragon appeared behind the white haired sannin. He jumped out of the way and made some seals of his own. Suddenly the ground beneath them started to turn into a swamp. The mizukage didn't know what hit him. His feet were stuck into the swamp and he could see that his opponent had no trouble walking on it. Jiraiya formed a rasengan in his hand and hit the man. He was surprised when the man turned into water. "Damn, a water clone!"

The mizukage came up from behind and kicked the sannin away. He grabbed his sword and started to run in order to slice through the frog tamer. Jiraiya made some seals and moved his hands down to the floor. The mizukage was stopped in his tracks when he couldn't move anymore. He looked around and was shocked when he saw that he was surrounded by something pink. His sword was caught by one of the walls and he had to release it. He used some chakra to cut the ground and to free his feet. He performed some seals and suddenly the entire area was filled by water. Jiraiya was surprised when he saw that the mizukage was even faster under water. He dispelled the frog stomach and escaped from the water. He made some seals and put his hands in the water. The water started to spin and it caused a whirlpool. The mizukage quickly jumped out and was greeted by a rasengan from the frog hermit. He was sent flying and hit a rock. "Damn you! I'm going to kill you all now!"

Jiraiya was now accompanied by the rest of the Konoha ninja. They had agreed to fight as one big group now. That would increase their chances of survival. They couldn't hold them off much longer. Everyone was tired beyond tired. The mizukage made a lot of seals and suddenly a huge wall of water came up from behind him. "I'm going to kill you now!" The water headed their way. Jiraiya knew that if they were hit by that attack, everything would be over. "Everyone, run now!" But it was too late. The water had already reached them. The sannin couldn't believe that it would end here. He closed his eyes and waited for everything to end. He waited and waited but the water never came. He slowly opened his eyes again and was shocked. The water was being held back by a huge wall of sand.

Naruto looked up and saw his good friend standing on the wall. "Gaara!" He looked around and saw that the sand ninja had surrounded the enemy. "Now it's time for our counter attack. Let's go!" All of the konoha ninja alongside the sand ninja started to charge towards their enemies. The mist ninja didn't know what came over them and tried to run away. They were surprised that there was no place to run to. They were surrounded. They looked up to their leader and saw that he was fighting the kazekage. "For the mizukage!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tsunade couldn't believe it. There were coming more and more wounded and dead people. She was getting tired. And she knew that the rest of the medical staff wouldn't hold out much longer too. They were able to save a lot of the wounded, but even with their medical ninjutsu they weren't able to save everyone. She had seen a lot of people die today. She hated it that she wasn't there to help them fight, but she knew that she could help much more here. She placed her hands on top of the chest of a jounin from the village. He had a big cut on his chest. The old woman used her healing powers and the wound started to heal already. She let out a sigh and made some hand signals. The man was moved by some nurses and another ninja was placed before her.

She was breathing heavily now. Her chakra supplies were getting too low for comfort now. She needed to take a break. She stood up and walked to the medical ninja who were resting. "Take over for a while. I need some rest." One of the meds stood up and took her place. He made some seals and started to heal the wounded shinobi.

The old hokage looked at the gate and was surprised when she saw that a dog came running through the gate. She knew this could mean only one thing. She stood up and walked over to the dog. She was right. It was Pakkun, the dog summoned by Kakashi. "How is the situation? How are we holding up?"

The dog sat down and let out a deep sigh. "We have lost a lot of men. But the kazekage has come to our rescue just in time. He fought with the mizukage and was victorious. The kazekage wasn't able to kill him though. He and the few remaining mist ninja fled. We need medical help there right now."

Tsunade nodded and turned around. "Everyone! The battle is over! We are victorious!" There was a big silence at first, but this quickly turned into a loud scream. Everyone was happy that they had won. The village of Konoha wouldn't go down that easy. They started to jump and dance. "But I need the west department of the medical ninjas to come with me to the battlefield. There are still konoha nin alive there and we need to tend to their injuries!" A lot of the meds stood up and started to head towards the gate. Tsunade nodded and Pakkun started to run. "Follow me!"

Sakura was in the west department too. She was happy too that they had been victorious, but she wasn't reassured yet. She wanted to know if everyone was alright. She stood up and headed towards the gate, when she suddenly stopped. _'It can't be…please don't let it be true.' _She saw two medical ninjas with a stretcher in their hands entering the village. She saw something pink on the stretcher. She followed the ninjas and stopped when they laid down the stretcher. She was right. On the stretcher lay no other than her own mother. "Mom!"

She kneeled down beside her and grabbed her hand. "Mom! What happened?!" She saw the giant hole in her body. She had been stabbed. She became even more worried when she saw that purple liquid was coming out of the wound. _'Damn, it's poison.' _The woman didn't respond. She was getting more worried by the minute. She looked to her fellow medics and her eyes widened when they told her that it was too late. She pushed them away and made some seals. Her hands started to glow and she put them above the body of the woman that had bore her. She knew that she hadn't had any more chakra left, but she had to try. She winced in pain as she used up all of her chakra. It didn't help though. The wound didn't close no matter what she did.

She started to cry now. She didn't want to lose her mother. She couldn't remember her father. He had died the time that the Kyuubi attacked the village. She was only half a year when it happened. She had almost missed the fatherly figure in her life, but her mother was there for her. Her mother always helped her; she was always there when she needed her. Sure, she hated her friend and they often argued because of that, but she still loved the woman. She couldn't let her die. Her mother couldn't leave her.

She closed her eyes and concentrated on the task of healing again. She was surprised when she suddenly felt a hand grab her own. She quickly opened her eyes and saw that her mother was conscious now. She immediately grabbed her hand and wiped used her other hand to move the woman's head on her lap. "Mom! You're awake!"

The woman looked up and saw a lot of pink. She tried to see through the blur, but it was very hard. The poison was working. She knew that she didn't have much time left. She could finally see who was there. "S…Sakura."

"Yes, mother, I am here for you. Don't talk. Save your strength please. I will go get Tsunade-shishou for you and she will cure you no matter what! Just hold on!" Sakura was crying harder than she ever had. She wanted to get Tsunade, but deep down she knew that is was too late. She was a medical ninja too. Maybe almost as good as her master. She tried to stand up, but she was stopped by the hand of her mother. Sakura was surprised by the display of power. She still had enough strength to hold her down like that. She wasn't praised as one of the strongest kunoichi of her time for nothing.

She leaned down to listen to her mother. She knew that she didn't have much time left. The woman had trouble speaking, so she was talking very soft. "You are truly the best daughter I could have ever wished for, Sakura. We have always been together, the two of us. We went through so much together and I wouldn't have had it any other way. You have become very beautiful too, dear. I know that you are always complaining about your pink hair, but you should stop that. It is a blessing from the sky." She stopped to cough up some blood. Sakura saw this and wanted to help her. Her mother shook her head and continued to talk. "You have your father's mouth. I have missed that baka for so long. I can't wait to see him again. We will be together again after such a long time."

Sakura couldn't take it anymore. She tightened the grip on her mother's hand and started to cry even more. "You're not going to die, mom! Don't say that you're going to die. You just can't die. You can't leave me. You just can't leave me all alone out here! Don't leave me!" She placed her head on her mother's head and continued to cry.

Her mother had trouble breathing now. She knew it was almost over. She looked up and could see the man she loved in the sky. She turned the gaze to her daughter again. "You are never alone, Sakura. I will always be in your heart. Don't ever forget that. I will be there watching over you, forever. I won't be there alone; your father will be there too. We are both so proud on you, dear. Don't let this destroy you. You are strong enough to go on living after this. You are the strongest woman I have ever seen."

Sakura was shocked by her words. Her mother had never praised her before. She had always been a strict woman. She felt even more tears coming out. But these were tears of happiness, mixed with the tears of sadness. She looked down again and was surprised to find a small smile on the face of her mother. She was about to ask what was so funny, but her mother beat her to it. "Tell that Naruto 'thank you' for me."

Sakura's eyes shot wide open. She had forgotten all about Naruto when she saw her mother. "Is he still alive?!" Sakura's mother gave out another smile. "He's not one to die in this kind of battle. He's a strong one, that kid." Sakura couldn't belief it. Her mother didn't only call the boy by his first name for the first time in her life, but she even praised the boy. She gave her mother her confused look. "Why should I thank him, mom?"

"Thank him for giving me the chance to see my daughter one more time." Sakura could feel the tears coming again. The sentence broke her heart, but she still didn't get it. She was about to ask her, but her mother raised her hand to stop her and continued to talk. "I was about to be killed on the spot, but he saved me. He then carried me to the medics. I didn't understand. I had always treated the boy so badly." She stopped for a while to think back at the times that she had shunned the boy. "He even risked his life to get me to the medics. The boy took three kunai in his back for me!" Sakura's eyes widened. She was now more worried about the boy, but was even more amazed by the boy's actions.

"He got me to the medics and he even started to cry when I said that I was going to die. He told me that there was still a reason to stay, that you still needed me." Sakura cried more and more. "He even forgave me for everything. That kid is really amazing. You have really found a great friend, Sakura. He may know your pain better than anyone else. Talk to him…I am sure that he will tell you everything. And I am sure that you will be able to understand." Sakura didn't understand what her mother meant, but she nodded. "It's time for me to go now, dear. I can see your father clearly now. I'll tell him how much you love him."

Sakura's eyes widened even more now. "No, mom! You're going to make it through this! Don't leave me alone!"

The woman looked at her with a contempt smile on her face. With her last strength she raised her hand and caressed her daughter's cheek. "Goodbye, my love. I will always love you." Her eyes closed and her hand fell down.

Sakura couldn't believe it. She used her hands to shake her mother. She was too broken now to think straight. "Mom. Don't play around now. Open your eyes! Mom!"

She placed her head in her mother's chest and cried harder than she ever had. "MOTHER!!!!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**AN**: Phew…that was a long chapter. Almost 10.000 words! I am happy that it is done, although I enjoyed writing it. I didn't check the chapter through a second time, so tell me if there are any big grammar mistakes. I hope I did okay with the fight scenes. I have never done a fight scene on this scale before and I hope you like it. I am not the type to let everyone call out the names of their attacks. I just let them make the seals and they perform the attack. It is smarter too, because the enemy won't know what to expect. I also hope that I did okay with Sakura's mother. I wanted her to see the true Naruto before she died. And I wanted to make an emotional scene between Sakura and her mother too. Tell me what you think.

Next chapter: The outcome of the battle. Who have survived and who didn't. This isn't a fairy tale, so some canon characters will die in my story.

Who do you want to die and who do you want to live no matter what? I am not going to kill Naruto and Sakura now of course. But tell me what you think.

Until next time!


	11. Nobody should have to be lonely

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any character from the show.

I am sorry for the wait, guys. My grandmother just died and I am really emotional right now. I am happy that many of you liked the last chapter. I didn't know you liked it that much. It makes me really happy. More than 20.000 hits now. I didn't expect that my story to be read so much. I hope I did okay on the chapter. I found it really hard to find inspiration, because of how I was feeling. I hope you like it anyway. Tell me what you think. I haven't read it through a second time, so there may be a lot of grammar mistakes.

Thank you for all the nice reviews and please keep reviewing. It means the world to me. Tell me what you like and what you would like differently. I will try to listen to you as much as possible. I will stop ranting now and let you read the story.

"Hello": regular talking  
_'Hello'_: thinking  
'**_Hello'_**: Inner Sakura and Kyuubi talking

Don't forget to R&R ;)

**Enjoy!**

It was a dark day in Konoha. It has been two days since the attack of the mist village. The village was spared, because the sand village had helped them. The shinobi of the sand had warned them and even aided them in battle. Without them Konoha would have been gone. Konoha had a powerful ally at it's side now.

As of today the village would never be the same again. Many people have lost someone precious. It was the way of the ninja. Most ninjas didn't get very old, because they had a chance to die every day. Some people say that ninjas are just tools, that they shouldn't have emotions. The kids in the academy even had to learn this. But everyone struggled with this issue. Even the best shinobi had to face this problem. Nobody was completely able to rid himself of emotions. It was the same now. Even though Konoha was a village full of these shinobi…it was a village full of sadness today.

Tsunade was walking towards the memorial stone. She saw the two advisors standing next to the stone. They were waiting for the hokage to come. They had been the two team mates of the third hokage and they were in the consul too. They helped to make the most important decisions with the hokage. She hated the two most of the time. They were cocky and they were very strict. They always argued a lot, because she always had another opinion than the advisors. Even though she hated them, she still had a lot of respect for them, even though she never showed it. Without them, the village would have been doomed long ago. Tsunade reached the stone and she placed her hand on it. The womanly elder placed a hand on her shoulder. A small tear fell down her cheek and she turned around. She thought back to the moment she went to go to the battlefield.

_Flashback_

It was horrible. There were dead bodies everywhere…Bodies of the leaf village, the mist village and the sand village. She turned around to see how her pink haired apprentice was doing. She was shocked to see that she wasn't there. She turned to Shizune who came walking to her. The black haired woman told her that she had seen that two medics brought in the young girl's mother. Tsunade clenched her fist and looked down. She had knows the woman for a long time. They had been friends for a long time, but the lost contact when she left Konoha. When she came back the two became close again. They saw each other a lot, because Sakura was Tsunade's apprentice after all. She knew how much her mother meant to the pink haired girl. _'Please be okay. Sakura still needs you.'_

She broke out of her thought and saw the shinobi who were still alive. Most of them were sitting on the ground. They had looks of emptiness on their faces. Tsunade turned to her men and gave them a serious look now. The look she would only give someone if she was doing her job as a hokage. "I want the first en second medical teams to look how the survivors are doing. Treat them if needed and report to me if something is wrong. Then I want the third and fourth medical teams to search for other survivors. Check if the people who seem dead, really are dead and if they are not, treat them. It doesn't matter from which village that person is. Even if the person is from the mist village, treat him. We could use him for interrogation. You got it." The ninjas nodded. "Alright, that was all. Scatter!" The ninjas disappeared and the hokage let out a sigh. She decided to help her people and searched for people to help.

She had healed a lot of people. Most of them had deep cuts and bruises. It was good that she had overcome her fear of blood a long time ago. She wouldn't have been able to do something useful here is she hadn't. It was a bloody mess. She had a lot of blood on her clothes now too. She was treating a mist ninja and said that she wouldn't kill him, but heal him. The man laughed her in the face and opened his jacket. He had explosion notes over his entire body. The started to burn and Tsunade quickly jumped away. The man exploded seconds after that. She was far enough from the blast to be damaged, but blood came flying her way. She clenched her fist. Hadn't there already been enough blood this day? Hadn't there already been enough death this day? She shook her head and searched for people who needed her help.

Her eyes lit up when she saw Jiraiya coming her way. He was pretty beat up, but he was able to walk. _'He's alright…thank goodness.' _She started to run towards her friend when she saw a yellow blur on his back. _'It can't be…' _She now ran even faster and reached the man in mere seconds. She was right; the yellow blur was indeed Naruto. She couldn't believe it. She didn't know if the boy on the old man's back was okay. She saw that the old man was pretty beat up himself and he was praised to be one of the strongest men alive. The man lied the boy down on the ground and sat down. He was breathing heavily. Tsunade turned to the boy. His eyes were closed and Tsunade gasped. Jiraiya gave her a comforting smile. "He is still alive. He's just tired."

She was relieved and let out a sigh. She started to focus on healing her long time friend. Jiraiya had some big cuts on his body and had used up almost all of his chakra. She was surprised when she saw a huge scar on his stomach. It wasn't made today, but some time ago.

He had never told her that something had happened on his journey with the boy. "Jiraiya, when did you get this scar?"

The man looked down to see to which one the woman was referring. He had lived a long time and his body showed it. He saw that she was pointing at the big one at his stomach. He smiled a bit. "That was done by the boy lying next to you."

Her eyes widened. "What do you mean? Why did he attack you? It doesn't make any sense." The old man sighed. "It wasn't his fault. In our little training expedition he had become much stronger. But because of that the kyuubi's power has been mixing with his own chakra more and more. He is able to call upon the power of the demon fox. But he can call upon even more power when he's angry. He did that to me when he lost his cool. He wasn't Naruto at the time he attacked me, he really was a miniature form of the Kyuubi."

Tsunade couldn't believe it. This pure boy could turn into something that dangerous. She couldn't imagine it. "We'll talk about this later. This is indeed a serious matter, but it will have to wait for now. Let me finish healing you."

She healed them without any problems and turned to the boy. He was almost totally fine. She was confused to see cuts in his clothes, but she couldn't find any wounds. She suddenly remembered that he still had the Kyuubi within him. The demon always healed the boy when he was injured. He did this, because he would die the second Naruto died. There was one thing the Kyuubi hadn't healed and that was his left arm. It was broken. She used the last of her chakra and tried to heal the arm as much as possible. She bandaged it and stood up. "It will have to heal for at least two days, even with the fox's healing power."

Jiraiya picked up the boy again and gave her a nod. He headed back to the village with the rest of the survivors. Tsunade looked around one more time to see all the death around her. She suddenly felt a sharp pain in her heart.

_End flashback_

She still felt the same way now. She felt empty. She knew everyone is the village personally and it was her job to protect everyone. But she knew that a lot of people died two days ago. She knew that nobody blamed her, but she did blame herself. She could've done more. She shouldn't have stayed behind. If she had been there, she would have been able to do more. Thoughts like these kept haunting her. But right now she had to be strong. She had to be strong for her people, for her friends, for the people who believe in her.

She looked around and saw that everyone was sad. Everyone had lost someone close to them. She saw that Naruto was standing next to his friend Konohamaru. The young boy was crying a lot. His best friend Udon had died. The boy died protecting the crying boy. He had jumped in front of the boy when he saw a ninja with a sword approaching him. He was hit right in his heart and died a quick death. She had talked to Konohamaru about it and the boy blamed himself. She was surprised when she saw that Naruto embraced the boy without saying anything. She gave out a small smile when she saw this. The boy never seized to amaze her.

Sakura was standing next to Naruto. She was looking to Naruto and Konohamaru, but she didn't seem to let out any emotion. Tsunade was struck by this. The girl had lost her mother. Her father had already died too a long time ago. She was alone now. She knew the girl better than most people did. She had trained her for a long time and they have become good friends. She knew that the girl was trying to be strong. She felt a pain in her heart again. The old woman clenched her fist. She decided that she would be there for the girl.

She saw Shikamaru crying on the shoulder of the blonde girl from the sand village. The boy had lost his father in the attack. The hokage knew how close the boy was to his father and she felt really sad. She had known the man since he was a little boy. She felt sorry for the boy, but she was happy that the boy was being comforted already. In times like this nobody should have to be alone.

Neji was standing next to a crying Hinata. The leader of the hyuuga clan had died protecting the girl. It was a great loss for the village. He had done great things and he would always be remembered as the man who threw away the curse seal. He couldn't remove it from the people who already had the seal engraved in their forehead, but he had made sure that it wouldn't happen ever again. Neji had always hated the man when he was younger, but after he had learned the truth, he also learned to respect the man. The hyuuga headman had helped the boy to become the man he was now…a jounin in the village of Konoha. Neji, who had always been a tad cold, put his hand on the girl's shoulder. When Tsunade looked closer, she could see a small tear on his cheek.

Kiba had lost his sister. She was one of the most beautiful women of the village. She was also the best veterinarian the village had to offer. She could treat almost any illness and wound. Tsunade had a lot of respect for the girl. Even though she treated animals in stead of humans, they followed the same path. They wanted to help others. The boy had almost lost his partner too. Akamaru had almost died, when he was hit by a poisonous sword. But Hana had saved him. She had used her amazing skills to remove the poison within a few seconds. She died a few minutes after that. The old woman could see that he was holding his tears back. She wasn't surprised by this. He was almost just as stubborn as Naruto was. He did the thing he always did when he needed to calm down. He bit his own hand.

The old hokage was surprised to find Ino crying on the chest of Chouji. They had both lost their father. Tsunade frowned when she realised that the fathers of Ino, Chouji and Shikamaru had all died. They were one of the greatest teams in Konoha's history. It was the reason why their children were put in the same team too. They had lost so many people. _'Why, why do people do these kinds of things for power? Power only breeds more war…and war only brings even more death.'_

Lee was crying his lungs out. The boy had almost lost his mentor, his father figure. Gai had almost died fighting the mizukage. Gaara had trouble fighting the leader of the mist, because water didn't go well with sand. Gai opened seven gates to create an opening for the kazekage. He was in a deep coma right now and nobody knew when the man would wake up. There even was a possibility that he would never wake up. She knew how important the man was to the boy. It pained her to see him like this. She had grown quite fond of the boy, even though she wouldn't mind if he would drop the green jumpsuit. She was again surprised when she saw that Tenten took his hand into her own. Lee seemed surprised too by the girl's action.

Kakashi was standing next to a crying Kurenai. She had lost the man she loved. Asuma had been killed too in the battle. Kurenai moved her hand to her stomach. She hadn't even told the man that she was pregnant. She had told Tsunade however. _'Another kid who has to grow up without a father…' _She could see a tear on the face of the grey haired ninja. He had lost one of his best friends and almost his rival on the same day.

She suddenly realised that she was dozing off. She was here for a reason. She was still the hokage. She needed to reassure the other people that everything would be alright. She hated to do these kinds of things. She would even prefer paper work right now, even though she detested paper work. She hadn't prepared a speech. She decided to say what her heart would tell her. She walked forward to speak to the people of her village.

"Today we will remember all of the people who have given their lives to protect our village. It is because of them that we will continue to live on. They won't be forgotten, but they will stay with us forever…in our hearts. Now I would like everyone to take a white rose and place it on the altar before me. This will be our promise to them to let them see that we will never forget them." She took a white rose and placed it on the altar. She then took a few steps back and waited for the rest to follow.

Everyone did as the hokage had told them and they took a flower and placed it on the altar. Some people placed the flower there without showing any emotion, but some people collapsed. Ino was one of them. Luckily Chouji was by her side to catch her when she started to fall down. Naruto and Konohamaru walked to the altar together and placed their roses there. Konohamaru was still in tears and Naruto had trouble to wink away the tears too. He thought back of the people he couldn't save. He was still too weak. He saw that his good friend was crying and it pained him. He looked behind him and saw that Sakura stood in front of the altar now, but she just stood there, paralysed. He walked back and put a hand on her shoulder. She turned her face and gave him an emotionless expression. Naruto was shocked by this. _'This is bad. She is grieving the wrong way. This will only hurt her more.' _She placed down the flower and walked past the boy. He sighed and followed her.

Everyone had placed their flower on the altar and the hokage walked forward again. "Now I would like to honour the fallen shinobi by praying for them in a one-minute silence." She didn't know it, but her own voice was wavering. She put her hands together and lowered her head. The others did the same. Everyone was silent for a minute. It was a scary silence. Everyone thought back of the people they lost. For some people it was hard to keep quiet, because they just wanted to cry. But they also knew that this was important and they keep their tears in for a minute. They could cry all they would like later. The hokage raised her head after a minute and was surprised that it had stopped raining and that the sun was beginning to break through. _'They must have made their way to heaven.'_

The hokage let out a small smile and faced the crowd one last time. "We shouldn't keep grieving for eternity. I'm sure that our precious ones wouldn't have wanted us to do so. We need to make sure that Konoha will continue to exist forever. I'm sure that we will make our love ones happy that way. Today, everyone is free to do as they want. You are dismissed." The hokage walked down the altar and was searching for something in particular. She frowned when she couldn't find it. Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see the white haired sannin standing there with Shizune by his side. Her apprentice had a bottle of sake in her hand. "Today, I will make an exception." Tsunade gave them a smile and they headed off.

Naruto was walking with Konohamaru on his back. The boy had hurt his legs in the battle and he had trouble standing. Naruto had seen this and put the boy on his back, but the boy became so tired from crying that he had fallen asleep. He turned around when he heard a familiar voice. It was Gaara, kazekage of the sand village. Naruto walked to the boy and their faces met. Naruto was surprised to see sadness in his face. He hadn't seen emotions on the face of the boy very often before. "Naruto." His voice was softer as it normally was too.

"Gaara." The boy responded. They stood there in silence for a few minutes before Gaara broke the it. "I'm sorry for all the people you lost. I know some of them meant a lot to you and your friends. I'm sorry that I wasn't there on time."

Naruto was taken back by his words. He had never seen Gaara like this. "What are you talking about? If it wasn't for you and the rest of the sand village, we would have all been killed." Gaara remained silent after this for a while and spoke up after turning around. "I'll be leaving in a few minutes to go back to the sand village. I just wanted to say goodbye. You showed me the light, when I was lost in the darkness. I am here now, because of you. I have become kazekage because of you, Naruto. I now know that I was wrong my whole life. I know how the people feared the beast inside me, but the people of the village have learned to see through it and I was able to become their strength. If I was able to do it, then it should be easy for you too. Become a great hokage." With that he disappeared from the boy's eyesight.

Naruto was shocked. Gaara just told him that the boy had everything to thank to him. He felt really proud, although he knew that it wasn't the time to feel that way. He knew that Gaara and he were the same. They both had monsters contained in their bodies and both followed the same pad now. Gaara had beaten him to the kage position, but he wouldn't let it stay that way. "Just you wait, Gaara. I won't let you outdo me. I'll become the greatest kage ever!"

He put his hands on his mouth when he noticed that he was yelling. He had forgotten that he still had a sleeping Konohamaru on his back. He was glad when he saw that the boy didn't move. He sighed and looked around. Next to him was standing a servant of the Sarutobi family. He knew that Konohamaru lived in the giant house next to the tower of the hokage. It had been the house of the third hokage and his family, but now it was Konohamaru's alone. He wasn't all alone though. He still had all his servants, so he wouldn't get too lonely. Naruto handed the boy over to the slim tall girl. She was really pretty and normally he would have blushed, but this wasn't the time for that. "He's just tired. Please take care of him." The girl nodded and walked towards the Sarutobi household.

Naruto walked away from the memorial service. He passed the hokage tower. He didn't want to go home just yet. He hated to be in his house all alone. It was just to quiet there. He hadn't seen Sakura since the memorial had ended. He knew that she was very troubled now and he knew that she was hiding her true feelings from the rest of the world. He didn't want to face her after he had heard that her mother had died. He had felt so ashamed for letting her die. The girl had to be grieving all by herself right now. She had already lost her father and now she was all alone. Naruto felt a pain in his left chest all of a sudden. He knew exactly how it felt to be alone and she didn't have to feel this way. He could still remember the last words that the Haruno woman had said to him.

'_Take care of her, will you…'_

Naruto clenched his fist and raised his head to the sky. "That's exactly what I will do, Haruno-san!" He turned around and walked towards the Haruno household. He was surprised when he saw a pink blur in the distance. She was just entering her house.

Tsunade was walking with Jiraiya and Shizune by her side with a bottle of sake in her hand. She saw her other apprentice entering her house. She felt sad and turned to Shizune and gave her the bottle of Sake. "I'll be right back." and started walking towards the house of her apprentice. _'She doesn't need to be alone right now.' _She stopped when she saw that Naruto was standing in front of her door. She let out a genuine smile. "It looks like that she will be alright. Take care of her, Naruto." She turned around and walked to her home with her two friends by her side.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shikamaru was holding Temari in one last hug. She and her two siblings were leaving to head back to the sand village. The other sand shinobi had already left. They wanted to travel with the kazekage to protect him, but Gaara wanted to travel with his siblings alone. The shinobi agreed and decided to go on ahead and scout the area for the kazekage.

Although Shikamaru and Temari had a thing for each other, they still lived in different villages and that made things complicated. Temari wanted to live with him permanently, but both Gaara and Shikamaru had told her that it was still too early for that. "I promise that I will visit you. It may be troublesome, but I hate it to see you leave."

The girl chuckled and buried her face in his chest. "Stop being so troublesome. You are a great man. Start taking things more seriously. You will be able to do great things that way. And I will miss you too. I will look forward to seeing you again." She looked raised her head and gave the boy a passionate kiss. She couldn't see it, but Gaara was actually smiling when he saw this. Temari reluctantly broke the kiss, because Gaara and her other brother were already leaving. "I'll see you again, okay. Don't get yourself killed. Goodbye." She turned around and started to run to get in step with her siblings. She looked behind her one more time and saw that the boy was crying a bit. _'You're still a cry-baby. But you're my cry-baby.'_

Shikamaru brought his fingers to his lips and touched them. He never grew tired of her lips pressed against his. He smiled a bit and turned around to head home. His mother must be getting angry at him for staying away from dinner. He knew that she would explode the moment he got home. He sighed. _'Women…they are just so troublesome.'_

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Sakura was sitting on her bed in her bedroom. She had been hurt so much by the death of her mother. She was all alone now. She didn't know how to bear this pain. Her mother had always been there for her and the one time her mother really needed her, she failed. She couldn't save her. She felt so useless right now. Everything was her fault. She wasn't strong enough. She didn't have enough power to save the people she loved. She moved her hands to her hair and removed her forehead protector. She placed it on the table next to her bed. "I don't deserve to be a ninja."

She didn't remember much of the things that happened after her mother died. She stayed with her all the way and made sure nothing happened to her body. She was a medical ninja, so she even asked to clean the body herself. She knew it would break her heart even more, but she didn't care. She just wanted to be with her mother for a while longer. She was really afraid of the loneliness. She wasn't really independent; she didn't even know how to cook right. She had talked to her mother when she was cleaning her. Even though the woman didn't respond, she talked to her like she did always. She knew she was crazy for doing it, but she didn't mind. She needed to be with her mother as long as she could.

She hit herself mentally now. She wasn't the only one who lost someone close to her. So many people had died; almost everyone must have lost someone. She hadn't thought about that before. Here she was crying, but she wasn't the only one. _'Why, just why am I so weak?'_

She started to cry again when she suddenly heard some noises downstairs. She stood up while wiping away the tears from her eyes. She opened her door and walked down the stairs. She thought that something had fallen down. She looked around, but couldn't find anything. She did see how empty the room was without her mother in it. She could see her mother sitting on the chair that she always used to sit on. The woman disappeared when she heard someone knocking on her door. She blinked a few times, but her mother didn't return. She sighed and decided to walk to the door. She opened it and saw who was there. In front of her was standing her best friend, the yellow haired boy who vowed to become hokage. She quickly looked away. She couldn't look him in the eyes. She didn't have the right to do so. She hadn't even talked to the boy once since the battle. She was really happy to see that he was here, but she couldn't show it to him. She didn't earn his friendship. She only though of herself and didn't think about anyone else. "I am glad that you're okay…" She managed to say with a soft voice.

Naruto saw that the girl was avoiding his gaze. She was in pain. A pain he knew very well. She must be feeling so hurt and lonely right now. She probably wanted him to leave, but he knew that he should be there with her now. He gave her a small smile. "I'm fine, Sakura-chan. Thank you for asking. I know that you have a lot on your mind."

Sakura was taken back by this. He was so nice. He had already forgiven her. She looked him in the eyes and saw that he was smiling at her. She gave him a small smile back and turned her head a little. "Do you want to come in?" Naruto nodded and the girl let the boy in. He walked right past her and she followed him after she closed the door. They both sat down on the couch and made themselves comfortable. There was a big silence, because neither of them knew what they wanted to say. Naruto made good use of the silence by looking around. He hadn't been in here before often, because her mother wouldn't let him in the house. It was a beautiful place. The furniture looked expensive and was brown. The walls were some kind of terra colour. It was truly beautiful. You could see the kitchen from the living room. There was no door to separate the kitchen from the living room. He was jealous of the place. His own house was a dump and he would rather live here than in that dump.

The boy was so lost in thought that he didn't even notice that Sakura was looking at him the whole time. She didn't like what she saw though. He had a bandaged arm and she could see that it must have been bandaged, because it's broken. The bandage was bloody and dirty though and she figured that he hadn't gone to a hospital when he returned. She sighed and knew that it was typical of the boy. He never liked the hospital and he always tried to escape as soon as possible. She decided that she would take a look at it later. She could see that the boy was sweating. She forced a smile. "Naruto, do you want some tea. You must be thirsty."

Naruto was broken out of his thoughts and gave the girl a smile. "I would love that, Sakura-chan. I am quite thirsty." Sakura stood up and walked to the kitchen. She took two cups and put some water in a water boiler and grabbed the tea leaves and the sugar. "Do you want sugar in your tea?!" She heard something that resembled a 'yes', so she decided to put in some sugar. The water was done boiling and she poured it into the cups. She made it the way her mother always used to make it for her. This way she could remember her mother while making her tea.

She let out a small sigh and returned to the living room. She put down the cups and sat down next to the boy again. She saw that he had a picture in his hand and that he was smiling a genuine smile. She closed in on him to look what picture he was looking at. Her eyes widened when she saw that he was holding the picture where her mother was holding her. She was six years old when they had taken the picture. It had been a sunny day and they had gone to the park for a picnic. They had a great time then and had decided to make the picture to always remember that day. She didn't have any friends at the time. She met Ino some time later and she became popular since then, but before she met Ino, she had no friends and she was always being picked on. Her mother had always been there for her though. Her mother was her only friend at the time and they always had so much fun together when she was little.

Naruto suddenly heard sobbing. He glanced to his side and saw that Sakura was trying to hold back her tears. He put the picture back on the table and turned to her. She wasn't doing a good job on holding back the tears though. Naruto mentally hit himself, because it was his fault. Why did he need to pick up that picture…? "Sakura-chan, it is okay to cry, you know."

"No, it's not!" Naruto was surprised by the tone she gave him. "Crying is a sign of weakness. My mother died, because I was too weak. I was too weak to save her. It was the only time she needed me and I let her down."

The boy put a hand on a shoulder and shook his head. "I know that you are anything but weak, Sakura-chan. You shouldn't think that of yourself. I am sure your mother wouldn't want you to." Sakura slapped away his hand and gave him a fierce look. "What do you know about my mother?! Don't talk like you know her! You don't know a damn thing about her!"

Naruto instantly lowered his head. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that…" She just moaned and turned around. Her mother was a touchy subject. Naruto knew this, but he only wanted to help her. He wanted to be there for her. "I just came by to let you know that I'm here for you. You have to miss her and feel so alone and empty right now. I know how you feel. I'm here, so if you need me…"

She didn't let him finish and gave him an angry look. She was furious now. Naruto could even feel some killer intent coming from her. "How could you even think that you could know how I feel?! Do you know how hard it is to be so….so alone!? Do you know, huh!" She was crying now.

Naruto grabbed her by her shoulders again, but this time more fiercely. She tried to get away, but he didn't let her go. "I do know! I've been there! I never knew my parents. I just got to know who my father is a few days ago. I have been alone all this time. How can you say that I don't know how hard it is! I do know!" Sakura dropped her head and started crying even more. She didn't even bother to hold back the tears anymore now. She knew that Naruto had always been alone. Then why did she say those things? She was such a bitch. "I…I'm sorry….I'm so sorry."

Naruto knew that she was unstable right now. He brought her head to his chest and let the girl cry. He embraced her with his right hand and moved his left hand through her hair while comforting her. "I know, I know. Let it all out, Sakura-chan." The girl tried to protest. "But, but…" Naruto continued to hold her and put his fingers to her lips to silence her. "No buts. I know that you've been holding back your tears. I know you want to be strong right now, but this is just the time to let everything out. You need someone right now. And I hate to say it…but at the moment I'm the only one here. So you're stuck with me."

Sakura continued to cry in the boy's arms. The girl was on her knees and Naruto knew that it wasn't comfortable like that. He picked up the girl and placed her on his lap. He embraced her again and said comforting words in her ears. He knew that she would hit him for these actions later, but he didn't mind. She needed this now. He was very surprised when the girl put her arms around his neck and buried her head in the crook of his shoulder. He blushed a bit, but he knew that this wasn't the way he wanted to have the girl in his arms. He pulled her closer and said nothing. He just let her cry…she needed to cry.

Naruto felt like he could cry too. He couldn't take it. He didn't want her to cry. He placed his head on top of hers. "I'm sorry." Sakura was surprised by this sentence. She looked up and saw that he had tears in his eyes. "What for?" She asked with a confused tone.

He gave her a defeated look. "I could have done more to help her; I could have done something, anything…" He closed his eyes. Sakura was shocked. Her mother had told her that the boy had risked his life to bring her to the medics. She became angry and hit him on the head softly. Naruto quickly opened his eyes and saw the angry look in her face. "You baka, you did everything you could have done. You fulfilled my mother's last wish. You brought her to me one last time. She is very thankful for that and so am I." Naruto was surprised when she embraced him again. "Sa…"

"Thank you for everything." She said, not even listening to what Naruto was about to say. She had stopped crying now, but sadness was still there in her voice. Naruto closed his eyes again and let out a genuine smile. "Everything for you, Sakura-chan."

They didn't say anything for some time and just enjoyed each other's comfort. This gave Sakura some time to think about some things. _'Just why is he doing this for me? I haven't done anything like this for him.'_ "Naruto. Why are you doing this for me? Why me?"

Naruto released the girl, but she didn't move herself from his lap. She looked straight in his eyes and he had to blush. He shook his head and Sakura was surprised to find a serious look on his face now. "I've been all alone for a long time. I had to go through some hard times and I thought that life wasn't worth it at some times. But then you guys came in my life. You, and Iruka-sensei, Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei. You became my first friends, the first people to acknowledge my existence. You are important to me. That's why I won't let you go through the same too. You won't have to be lonely as long as I am here. I'll be here just like you've been there for me."

Sakura was stupefied. She didn't know that the boy had it that bad. Was she really one of the first people to acknowledge him? She used to treat him so badly when she just met him too. And here he says that he will be there for her no matter what. She embraced him again and whispered a 'thank you' into his ear. This made the boy shiver a bit. Sakura saw this and chuckled.

Sakura broke the hug and looked the boy in his eyes. The boy had made her happy again. Maybe happy is too much, but he had helped her to understand the situation some more. He helped her again. But one thing she just couldn't understand. _'Why has he always been alone? He is a great guy. I can't possibly understand why someone would truly hate the boy. Why would all of those people give him those looks? Mom told me to talk to him about it.'_ He was hiding something and she wanted the truth now. "Naruto, why have you always been alone?" Naruto looked away quickly now. "Why do the villagers seem to hate you?" The boy looked like he didn't want to hear it. He didn't want to come clean. Sakura saw that the boy's expression went from sad to happy in one go. She just knew that he was faking it. "Sakura-chan. It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

"You always say that! I know that there is something going on, Naruto! All those glares…they must have a reason to look at you like that, right?! Just tell me, okay?" She gave the boy a pleading look. Naruto saw this and he hated when she gave him that look. He couldn't resist it. But he didn't want to lose her too. If he told her his secret, she would shun him too. He would lose her too. "I'm sorry…"

Sakura became frustrated now and grabbed his black vest. "Now listen and listen good! There's something up and you are going to tell me now! You say that you want to be there for me, but I want to be there for you too. Just tell me!" Sakura was surprised when she saw tears falling on his cheeks. She wanted to comfort him, but just then he started to say something: "If I tell you this…then….then I'm going to lose you too. I don't want to lose you too. Please don't make me tell you this, Sakura-chan."

Sakura became awfully worried now. She had never seen the boy like this. _'Just what is his secret? Why is he afraid to lose me?'_ She turned to him with a strict face. "You are not going to lose me…never…no matter what you are going to tell me, okay. You have always been there for me and I will always be there for you, so just tell me, okay. Come on, have some faith in me."

Naruto wiped away his tears and saw that she was giving him an honest smile. He smiled back and took her hand in his own. "I'm sorry for doubting you, Sakura-chan. If you want to hear it that badly, I'll tell you my secret. But I will have to warn you: After this, you won't ever look at me the same as you do now. Are you certain that you want to go through with it?"

Sakura became worried a bit now, but she needed to know. No matter what he would tell her, she would be there for him. "No matter what this secret is, I will be there for you just like you are there for me. This is the promise of a lifetime!" Naruto was shocked by her determination and gave her a big smile. She smiled back and was glad to finally hear the big secret. She moved herself from his lap and she was ready to hear it.

Naruto sighed and looked her directly in her eyes. "You know what the Kyuubi is, right?" She nodded, but was confused. She didn't know why he would bring that up. "Don't change the subject, Naruto." The boy gave her a serious look and that scared the girl a bit. "I'm not changing the subject at all, Sakura-chan, just listen. This is hard enough as it is. The Kyuubi attacked the village more than fifteen years ago now. He almost destroyed the village with his powerful attacks and even the strongest ninjas couldn't fend him off. Even the fourth hokage couldn't kill him."

Sakura became very confused now. "The fourth defeated the Kyuubi, right. We have to learn that on school." She was surprised when the boy simply put his fingers on her lips. She understood and shut her mouth. "The fourth couldn't beat him, so he decided to seal him away. The man had invented a jutsu where he had made a deal with the death god. You could say that the deal was a life for a life." Sakura didn't understand, but decided to stay quiet anyway. "He needed to seal it in someone and he didn't want to do it, but he knew it needed to be done. He decided to seal it in his own son, who had just been born and the man died doing so. "

Sakura's eyes widened. She was putting the pieces together. She wasn't one of the smartest shinobi in the village for nothing. Probably only Shikamaru beat her at intelligence. _'His own son…Naruto hasn't got any parents. He looks a lot like the fourth too. Wait…Naruto's birthday…it can't be.' _

"You are his son…" She said while looking down. She glanced to her side and saw the boy nod. She couldn't believe it. "So…so he sealed the Kyuubi inside you?" She looked the boy in the eyes and was confused when he didn't say anything. He closed his eyes and moved his hands towards the black vest he was wearing. He raised the vest and Sakura could see his stomach. "What are you doing, you pervert!" She was about to hit him, when she saw something appear on his stomach. Her eyes widened. He was telling the truth. She knew what the seal the fourth used looked like and it was the same as the one on Naruto's stomach.

"The villagers shun me because this is sealed within me. They did all of these things to me, because of him." He said it while pointing to the seal. Sakura now finally understood everything. She remembered the time that she saw him in the forest of death while he fought against Orochimaru. He had sharp claws and fangs then. She remembered that he was saying something like 'fox, give me some power' in the mission that she wanted to forget. She remembered the times that she saw him use red chakra. Everything made sense now. He really had the Kyuubi sealed inside of him. She couldn't believe it. She thought she knew him, but she wasn't even close. She thought that she knew what real suffering was, but she didn't know anything. _'Naruto…'_

She was confused when the boy suddenly stood up without looking at her. He started to walk towards the door, but stopped in the middle of the room. "Now you know it all, Sakura-chan. I know you are scared of me now too. So I'll leave now. I hope you'll have a great life." He started to walk again, but was surprised when he was forcefully turned around. He saw Sakura standing before him with an angry look. He wanted to say something, but she leaped forward and embraced the boy. She put her hands around his waist with enough power to squash him. "You baka! Who do you think I am! I'm not going to abandon you!"

Naruto was taken back by her words. He wanted to say something, but just at that moment his head was pulled into her bosom. At any other time he would have been the happiest man in the world, but now he just felt like crying. She just let him cry now. "You are the best friend I will ever have. You may have the Kyuubi sealed within you, but you're still the same Naruto to me. The same strong, happy, caring and stupid Naruto. You have always been there for me. You are helping me right now by being there for me too. I will be there for you from now on too, Naruto. We will face the world as a team. That way we don't have to be lonely."

Naruto could pull his head back again and he had stopped crying. He saw that Sakura was smiling at him. He couldn't believe it. She accepted him….she really accepted him, even after telling her about the Kyuubi. He couldn't be happier than right now. He pulled her into another hug, one which she accepted happily. "Thank you, thank you so much, Sakura-chan! You don't know how much this means to me!"

Sakura had never seen the boy this happy before. She was truly happy for him. She thought of all the times that she detested the boy and she hated herself for it. How could she have been so blind? Her mother had accepting him too right before she died. _'I'll be there for him. If anyone even gives him a dirty look, then that person will have to face me too.' _She was surprised when he planted a quick kiss on her forehead before pulling away. She gave him a smile. "What was that for?"

He grinned at her and was surprised mentally because she didn't hit him for it. "For being my friend." Sakura thought it was very sweet and smiled even more. She walked to him and gave him an elbow in his side. "Baka!" And she walked back to the couch after that. Naruto grinned and was happy that she wasn't angry at him.

"Naruto, come here! Your tea is getting cold." Naruto hit himself. He had forgotten all about the tea. He hurried and sat down next to his friend. He took the cup in his hand and drank up the tea in one go. The tea was pretty cold already, because they had totally forgotten about it. He placed the cup back on the table and glanced to his side. He saw that Sakura's shirt was all wet. "I'm sorry, Sakura-chan. I got your shirt all wet." She looked down and saw it too. She gave him a devilish smile which scared the boy a bit. "That's not good, eh. How can you repay me...I don't know anything now, but I'll think of something."

Naruto sighed and stared outside. It was raining a lot now. He knew it was late and he needed to go home. He could see that his friend was pretty tired and she needed her rest. He stood up and turned to the door. Sakura saw this too and stood up too. "What do you think you are doing?"

He turned around and saw an angry look in her face. "I'm going home. You must be tired." He was surprised when she grabbed his hand and pulled him back on the couch. "Can't you see it's raining hard?! You will be staying here tonight. I don't want you to get sick. You can sleep on the couch. I want to look at your arm too. I am still a medical ninja, you know. I am too tired now, but I'll look at it tomorrow morning. I'll get you a pillow and a blanket, so that you can sleep nicely on the couch. Be right back." She walked up the stairs, leaving behind a dumbfounded boy.

She came back with an orange blanket and a blue pillow. The boy smiled when he saw the colours. Naruto had changed into a black shirt and orange pants. He always has a spare set in a scroll in his kunai pouch. He was so thankful that the perverted hermit had taught him all kind of sealing jutsus. He had heard that his father was a genius with sealing jutsus, so this made him even more happy. He wanted to look like his father so badly. And if he would learn everything his father did, then he would sure become hokage one day. He lied down and was surprised when Sakura was wrapping the blanket around him. "What are you doing?"

The girl smiled at him. "I'm tucking you in. What else does it looks like?" He blushed heavily now and looked her in the eyes. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now make sure that you rest well. If there is anything, I am in my room upstairs. Sweet dreams." Naruto closed his eyes and said 'sweet dreams' back. He quickly opened his eyes when he felt something touch his forehead. He started to blush when he saw that she planted a kiss on his forehead. She smiled and turned around. "That was to thank you for tonight. Goodnight." She walked up the stairs and Naruto couldn't believe it. _'Wow. I've died. I am in heaven.'_

Sakura closed the door of her room and hurried to the mirror. She knew it, she was blushing. _'Just what is wrong with me? Why did I kiss him? Why am I blushing?' _She shook her head and changed into her pyjamas. She had made sure that the door was locked, because the boy downstairs had travelled with the old pervert for a while. She didn't think that Naruto would do such a thing, but she couldn't be too sure. She hated perverts. She lied down in her bed and closed her eyes. _'Good night, Naruto. Good night, mother. I hope you can rest in peace for eternity. You don't have to worry about me. I won't have to be lonely.' _She drifted to sleep with a content look on her face.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gaara and his siblings were still running through the forest. It was getting light again. They had been running the entire night. They decided to take it easy, so they would reach the sand village in approximately four days. The job of the kazekage was pretty boring at times, so he didn't want to get back so soon. He would have to do all sort of things that had to do with the war. Although they had won the battle, a lot of things weren't clear yet. Why had they attacked and why now? Gaara sighed and got a headache. He knew the consul would go complaining right when he came back. They had voted against the idea to help Konoha, but Gaara did it anyway. He knew that they would be angry when he came back.

His brother Kankurou was running next to him. His puppets were pretty beat up from the battle against the mist. They were still in one piece, but he didn't think that they would be able to put up much of a fight anymore. The man in black glanced to his side and smiled. He was very happy that his brother had changed so much lately. He can still remember the talk he had with his brother before he became kazekage.

_Flashback_

Kankurou was looking for his brother. They had just come back home after helping Konoha. He was happy that he was finally able to use his new puppet, kuroari, in battle. He had trapped the enemy and killed him with the jutsu he had been practising. He had saved the Konoha ninja named Kiba. He had seen him fight in the chuunin exams and thought that he was pretty weak at the time. But he now had respect for the man. He had almost given his life to save his best friend. It doesn't matter that it was a dog; it still was an honourable deed.

Konoha had thanked them a lot. When Gaara saw that Konoha asked help of the sand village, he didn't hesitate one bit. He called his siblings and left right away. Kankurou wanted to know why his brother had changed so much since the war with Konoha. He followed his footprints in the sand and finally found him sitting on the edge of a cliff just outside the village. "Hey, Gaara, What are you doing out here?"

The red haired boy turned around and saw who was there. He didn't say anything and turned again to look at the beautiful sunset. Kankurou didn't know what was wrong so he took a few steps forward. "I was just thinking about some things." Kankurou stopped in his tracks. He knew his brother was in thoughts for a long time now. He wanted to ask his brother what was wrong when Gaara spoke up again. "I decided to strive to become kazekage."

Kankurou hadn't expected this. He had always resented his father who was the kazekage. He had always hated everyone from his village, just like the rest hated him. The people had tried to kill him on several occasions, but he always survived. Just why did he want to become the leader of those people? It didn't make any sense. "Why do you want to become kazekage, Gaara? The people fear you and hate you. The leaders of the village don't think much of you either. I'm sorry to say this, but they just see you as a monster."

He looked down. He knew it was harsh, but it was the truth. He didn't want to lie to his brother about the matter. He was surprised when his brother suddenly stood up. "I know that." Kankurou raised an eyebrow now. "But they will fear me more and more if I keep waiting. I need to work hard to make the people acknowledge me. I know it will be hard after all the things I did, but if I want them to forgive and respect me, then I need to work harder than I ever have. That is my way to escape the loneliness."

Kankurou didn't believe what his brother was saying. He had never thought about it that way. Gaara didn't turn around. He was still looking at the sunset. " Then maybe, one day, I will be like him. By working hard I want the people to see who I really am. I want them to see a strong shinobi who works hard for the village in stead of a monster. I think that this is what Uzumaki Naruto was trying to teach me."

Kankurou's eyes had widened now and he nodded with a smile on his face. "Up to now my bonds to others consisted of hate, but he went so far to make me question what a bond really is. And I think that I understand that a bit better now. Your feelings of happiness and joy, but sadness and sorrow too. You should share these feelings with someone. I learned this by meeting and fighting this boy. He knew the same pain as me and showed me how to change my life."

Kankurou was smiling now. He was so happy that his brother saw the light now. He was surprised when his brother turned around now. "I want to be needed by someone too. Not as a weapon for the village, but as the hidden village of sand's kazekage." He was surprised to find a smile on the face of his younger brother.

_End flashback_

He had made the title of kazekage after a lot of hard work. The people really respected him now. The shinobi of the village saw him as the greatest kazekage of all time now. The boy in black closed his eyes and saw the boy to who he had to thank this. _'Thank you, Uzumaki Naruto.'_

He was surprised when Temari suddenly stopped. She used her arms to make her brothers stop too. "Look down there." The two boys looked down and were shocked. There were bodies on the ground…at least fifty of them. And to make it worse, it were the sand shinobi who had gone ahead to scout. Gaara clenched his fist and jumped down. He looked around and saw burn marks on the trees and on the bodies. "They have walked into a trap. Something exploded right here. Be careful. There may be more traps around the area." He saw that some of the people had died, because of kunai wounds too. He approached one of the victims and saw that some purple goo was coming out of the wound. _'Poison…the guy who did this is good.' _

He suddenly sensed something and moved his sand to his siblings. Temari was surprised by this, but saw a few kunai hit the wall of sand in front of her. "Temari! You go back to get help. The village of Konoha is much closer than the village of sand! Kankurou, come down here and help me!" Temari wanted to protest, but she couldn't get closer because the sand was blocking her way. "Now go!" Temari turned around while clenching her fist. "Don't die!" She was away before they could answer.

Gaara was glad that she was able to get away safely and concentrated on the enemy. "So, why don't you two come out of hiding? I am right here to take on your challenge."

"Oh, so he discovered that there are two people, yeah." Two people with black robes and red clouds came walking out of the shadows. One of them was tall and they could see yellow hair from under his hat. The other one was small and very fat by the looks of it. To be honset, he didn't look human. "Hehe, it looks like you found your jinchuuriki. Hurry up, so that we can find mine. And you know that I don't like it when I have to wait!"

Kankurou didn't know who these guys were. He glanced at Gaara and saw that he was getting ready to fight. He knew that his puppets still weren't ready. He looked at the enemy and saw that the tall one was heading their way. "Time to come with us, one-tail!"

The boy with the painted face grabbed the three scrolls on his back and opened them. He made a seal. "Karasu, Kuroari, Sanshouo!" There appeared smoke above all of the scrolls and after the smoke cleared there were three puppets around him. Gaara's gourd opened and the sand went straight for the enemy. "This is where you die!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**AN:** Alright, I am finally done with the chapter. I hope I did okay. I was really emotional when I wrote this and I hope that I did a decent job nonetheless. I love cliff-hangers, so I decided to throw in another one. I used the Gaara flashback part from the manga. I just loved that part, so I put it in my story too. As you can see, I decided to let most of the characters alive. I killed Asuma. I am sorry for that, but I had to kill someone and I don't like him very much. There will be more death in my story though. Tell me what you think of the chapter. Reviews mean the world to me.

Until next time!


	12. Playing with puppets

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any character from the show.

Thanks for all the positive feedback, guys. I finished this chapter quicker than I thought I would finish it. I know I have killed a lot of strong people, but don't worry. I am going to introduce some new people later. My story is still far from over. I hope that you continue reading my story. I don't know anything else to say here, so just enjoy the story

"Hello": regular talking  
_'Hello'_: thinking  
'_**Hello'**_: Inner Sakura and Kyuubi talking

Don't forget to R&R ;)

**Enjoy!**

The legendary frog tamer Jiraiya had gotten word that Orochimaru had a hideout somewhere near the rice country. Sakura and Naruto both flipped when they heard the news. They had decided to bring back Sasuke back and when they heard that they found a possible location to find him, they looked at each other. They knew that time was almost up. This could be their last chance to save him from the snake.

Tsunade gave them one last chance to bring him back. They had headed out along with Sai and they had reached the rice country within a few days. They had split up to look around. Sakura had heard Naruto's voice and ran his way. Then she saw him. Sasuke was standing on top of a giant rock. She had been happy to see him again, but she had felt scared too. He was using the cursed seal. He shot a ball of fire at the three and was gone after the smoke had cleared. Sakura was surprised when Naruto was gone too.

Sakura was looking around. She was in a big forest now. There were bodies on the floor….everywhere. They were all sound ninjas. She sighed in relief, but her eyes widened when she saw a familiar forehead protector. She picked it up and she was now sure of it. "It's Naruto's…" She heard a shriek and ran towards the sound.

She ran as fast as she could and finally reached the two boys. She fell down on her knees when she saw what had happened. Sasuke was holding the boy with one hand and had pierced the boy's heart with a chidori made in his other hand. "No, Naruto….why….why couldn't you forget that stupid promise. Why did you have to leave me?" She started to cry and didn't even notice that Sasuke was standing in front of her now with a chidori in his hand. Sakura closed her eyes and smiled. "Do it, Sasuke-kun. That way, I'll be together with him again." She heard the sword reaching her, but she didn't mind.

She shot up and brought her hand to her head. She looked around and saw that she was in her bedroom. _'Another nightmare…damn it.' _She looked at her alarm clock and saw that it was almost 7 o'clock. She yawned and moved her fisted hands through her eyes. She felt like she hadn't slept at all. She waked up like this almost every day lately. Her alarm clock started to peep and a vein appeared on her forehead. She already had a headache and now that stupid thing even made it worse. She moved from her bed and threw the damn thing out of the window. "How do you like that, eh!"

She wanted to sleep some more, but decided to go to the shower. She didn't want to get another nightmare anyway. She opened the door to her closet and took a look. She probably had to go on a mission today, so she decided to take out her usual battle outfit. She also took a towel and walked towards the shower. She still was very sleepy and she couldn't see where she was going. She didn't see a small cupboard in the hallway and she hit it. "Shit." She dropped her clothes and moved her hands to her leg. There was a big bruise. She made a seal and healed her leg. She really wasn't a morning person. She frowned and picked up her clothes. She always had trouble to do things right in the morning, but today everything went wrong.

She finally reached the shower and closed the door behind her. She undid her pyjamas and turned on the shower. She stepped under the warm water and let out a moan. She started to sing. She always did that when she was showering. The warm water felt really good on her skin. They past few days were really stressing. She felt sad for a moment when she thought about her mother, but that sadness was quickly washed away. She remembered the talk that she had with Naruto yesterday and it had made her felt a lot better. She knew now that she wasn't alone. She suddenly remembered that she had let the boy stay over for the night. She hit herself; she had completely forgotten about him. _'What if he heard me sing…no…' _

She stepped out of the warm water and turned it off. She dried herself and put on her clothes. Then she grabbed her brush and started doing her hair. This part took the longest. When the hair was finally tamed, she took her forehead protector and put it in her hair. She looked at herself in the mirror. She smiled and turned around. She opened the door and started to walk towards the stairs. She suddenly smelled something and was afraid that something was on fire. She sniffed again. _'It's coming from the kitchen.' _She hurried to the kitchen with all of her speed.

She finally reached her destination and was surprised by what she saw. The table was decked and she could see pancakes on two plates. There were two glasses of orange juice and the cereals were on the table too. There was some fruit too. But she was even more surprised when she saw that Naruto was making another pancake. _'Wow…he can cook?' _

'**Oh yeah. That boy is useful for more things. This is perfect. Shannaro!' **Sakura could see that her inner self was holding a green book. She knew that book all too well. It was the same book that Kakashi was always reading. She sweat dropped once again because of her second persona. She knew now what the real meant. She shook her head and went back to the real world. She took a few steps and she was now able to sniff in the smell completely. She started to drool. She was very hungry, because she had started to go on a new diet a few days ago. _'The hell with that diet.' _She walked up to the boy. "Good morning, Naruto."

The boy turned around and smiled the moment he saw her. "Good morning, Sakura-chan." Sakura looked down and saw that the boy was wearing an apron with the words 'I love ramen' on it. She chuckled and was glad that there was something else than ramen on the table. "Why did you do this?"

Naruto turned around again to make sure that his pancake wouldn't get burned. He flipped it over and Sakura was amazed by his skill. "I wanted to thank you for letting me stay here last night. So I decided to make you breakfast." He glanced over his shoulder and smirked. Sakura became very happy by this deed and gave him a smile back. "Go on; sit down, Sakura-chan. I'll be with you soon."

She nodded and walked to a chair. She sat down and smiled when she saw the pancakes that were waiting for her. The boy finally came to the table with another plate of pancakes. He put the plate down and sat down next to the girl. "Well, I hope I did okay. Taste it." He was pointing to the pancakes when he said it. Sakura gave him a smile and took a fork in her right hand and a knife in the left one. She put some butter on the pancake and then started to slice a piece. She brought the piece to her mouth and started chewing. Naruto was watching her the whole time. He hoped that he had done a good job. "Wow, this is delicious, Naruto."

The boy started to smile when he saw that she put another piece in her mouth. He had never seen her eat that fast before. "I'm glad you like it." He turned to his own plate and started to eat. Sakura finished her plate and touched her stomach. "Whew, I'm full. That was so good. I didn't know that you could cook."

The boy finished his plate too and turned to the girl. "Well, I kind of needed to learn how to cook. I didn't have someone to do it for me and I don't earn enough money to go to Ichiraku each day. I have done it all my life." Sakura's smile turned into a sad expression. She had just lost her mother, but he had never known his parents. He had to learn everything on his own. She now realises that he was so bad at everything in the academy, because nobody ever helped him. Her mother used to help her, but to do everything alone…it would be very though. Even though he has always been alone, she had almost never seen him frown. He always seemed happy and he was always there if someone needed help. _'From now on I'll be there for him too. He doesn't have to go through everything alone.'_

'**Yeah, I can't wait to play with him.' **Inner Sakura said while reading her book. Sakura sighed and wanted to lock her up someone deep in her mind. She was getting more perverted by the minute. _'Remind me to kill that perverted sannin when I see him. He messed up my inner self.' _

Naruto put the dishes away and cleaned the table. Sakura sat down on the couch and waited for Naruto to come. It was still quite early and they had some time to spare, but she didn't want to come too late. She still had to make a pit stop too. Her master could be so scary in the morning. The woman often had a headache because of the alcohol of the night before and she would blame Sakura for it. She sighed and hoped that her master was in a good mood today. _'Probably not after everything that has happened.'_

Naruto was finally done and came the girl's way. She stood up and headed towards the door. Naruto followed her and exited the door too. She closed the door and they headed towards the tower of the hokage. The village was still very quiet. It was early, but normally most ninjas were up now. She knew that everyone had a hard time right now. She was only here now, because of the boy walking next to her. She glanced to her side and saw him looking at the clouds. He had a smile on his face…the same smile he always showed everyone. Sakura smiled at the sight. _'He looks so peaceful and carefree now. If I wouldn't know better, I would say that he is the happiest boy on the world.' _

Naruto was confused when the girl walked the wrong way. He wasn't blind, was he? He looked the other way and saw the hokage tower there. He raised his eyebrow and tried to ask her where she was going, but she wasn't paying attention. He started to worry now. _'There must be something on her mind.' _They entered the park now. He was happy when he saw Kiba playing with Akamaru. He threw a big tree branch in the air and the big dog caught it with in his mouth. Kiba might be a pain in the ass sometimes, but he still saw him as a friend. He was very glad that he had survived the battle. He was glad that his friends had survived. He was sad that some people had died, but he was glad that it wasn't anyone very close to him. They exited the park and the boy now finally understood where the girl was going.

Sakura reached her destination. Naruto walked up to her and saw that he was right. He saw the memorial stone standing in the middle of a field. They saw someone else standing there already and they took a few steps forward. It turned out to be Kakashi. Naruto walked up to the man and saw that he was looking very sad. "Kakashi-sensei?"

The man turned around and saw his two former students. "Yo." The boy had never seen the man here before. "What are you doing here, Kakashi-sensei?" The man saw that the boy had a worried look on his face and put a hand on his shoulder. He didn't want to tell the two kids his story now. They had seen enough sadness for a long time. "I'm just visiting a friend. That's all. So how have you guys been?" He looked to Sakura when he said it. He knew that she had lost her mother.

Naruto scolded his former sensei. He didn't want his friend to start crying again. He was surprised when he saw that she was smiling. He raised his eyebrow and wanted to ask her what was wrong when she started to speak. "I'm fine, kakashi-sensei. It was hard losing my mother, but Naruto was there with me all the way." She gave the boy a smile and when he saw it, he started to blush. Kakashi smiled too, though the two chuunin couldn't see it because of the mask. Kakashi walked past them and glanced over his shoulder. "I've been summoned by Tsunade-sama, so I'd better hurry. I'm late already. You know how she can be if you aren't on time. I'm off. See ya." He made a seal and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Sakura walked to the memorial stone and touched it. She turned around and asked the boy to come too. He complied and started to walk towards his friend. He was surprised when she put her hand is his. He looked her in the eyes and she just smiled, but he could see uncertainty in her eyes. He knew she still had it though and he decided to stay with her in this hard time. She turned her gaze to the stone again after this. "Well, mom, I came here to say goodbye. I am really missing you. I had it really hard when you died, but thank goodness Naruto was there for me." She looked to the boy and smiled a genuine smile. He started to blush again a little. "I have thanked him for you and me both. I just wanted to tell you that I am fine right now. I know you will be watching over me…together with dad….forever. You don't have to worry, because I'm not alone. Goodbye."

She turned around and a small tear fell down her cheek. Naruto saw this and gave her a worried look. "I'm fine. Thanks for coming with me. You could have left, but you stayed." Naruto gave her a smile now. "Of course. Now let's hurry to the old hag." She smiled and wiped away her tear. "Yeah, I don't want to get scolded this early in the morning…" Kakashi smiled when he had seen everything. _'Looks like they are becoming more than just friends.' _

They were walking on the road that they had both seen so often. It was the road that leads out of the village. They had to take the road to reach the tower. Sakura still remembered that Sasuke knocked her out on this road before he left. She clenched her fist and scolded the boy. _'I still have to return the favour. Just you wait, Sasuke-kun.'_ Sakura was surprised when the boy suddenly stopped."What's wrong, Naruto?" The boy turned around and his eyes widened. Sakura didn't know what was wrong so she did the same. "Temari-san?"

They saw the sister of the kazekage walk into the village. She looked very tired. She fell on the ground a moment later. They ran to her as fast as they could. Naruto sat down on his knees and put her head on his lap. Sakura quickly did a check-up and sighed in relief. "She is just exhausted." Naruto sighed too and grabbed a soldier pill out of his pocket. He put it in the girl's mouth and saw that she started to chew. Sakura used her medical ninjutsu to help her restore some chakra too. After a few seconds the girl opened her eyes and she shot up immediately. "Gaara!"

Naruto became very worried now. "What happened?" The girl saw where she was and quickly stood up. She saw the two chuunin and started to explain what had happened. "We were on our way to the sand village, when we were suddenly attacked. Gaara told me to get help. We must hurry; it's been quite a few hours since I left them!"

Sakura saw how worried the girl was. She didn't understand. He was the kazekage after all. He had fought against the mizukage and survived. He wouldn't be defeated in a random attack. "Why are you so worried, Temari-san? The kazekage can take care of himself. He is very strong, you know that."

The girl turned to the pink haired kunoichi now. "Those bastards killed all of the sand shinobi that were ahead of us. I don't know how strong they are, but I've got a bad feeling about this. He wouldn't send me to get help for nothing." Naruto saw how worried the girl was and he also knew that Gaara wasn't the type to ask for help. "What did the enemy look like?"

She now turned to Naruto. "I didn't get a good look at them, but I could see that the two of them were wearing black robes with red clouds on it." Sakura didn't know what was so important about it, but when she saw Naruto's face, she became worried. He had a look of pure horror in his face. "Damn! Those guys again! Temari, lead the way. We must hurry!"

Sakura didn't understand why her friend was suddenly so eager to go. She was about to ask him when he put a hand on her mouth. "I'll tell you on the way. Now we have got to go!" Sakura became scared now. She had never seen him like this before. Temari nodded and started to run as fast as she could. Sakura and Naruto followed her. They didn't see that someone was watching them leave.

Sakura had never seen Naruto like this before. He was scared, but angry at the same time. Just what was going on? She hated to see him like this. "Naruto? Why do we need to hurry?" The boy didn't look at her, but he did answer. "Black robes with red clouds…that can only mean one thing. Gaara is fighting people from Akatsuki!"

"Akatsuki?" Sakura had never heard that name before. Just what was going on? She increased her speed to catch up with her friend. When she was in step with him, she could see that he was really pissed. "It is an organisation that consists out of S-rank criminals. Their objective is to catch the tailed beasts." Sakura flinched now. "They are after Gaara and me, because we have monsters contained in our bodies." Temari's eyes widened now. She didn't know that the boy in front of her had a monster sealed within him too.

"They just see us as monsters! It just pissed me off!" He increased his speed again and even Sakura had trouble to keep up now. She became sad, because the village treated him the same way all of his life. He had told her so himself yesterday. She clenched her fist. She didn't know what that organisation was, but she had vowed to be there for the boy. She saw that he was clenching his fist so hard, that they started to bleed. "We are exactly the same. He was even lonelier than I was. He always had to face everything alone. That's why I won't leave him hanging now. I want to save him as quick as possible! So we have to hurry!"

Sakura looked down. She was running behind the boy now. She had given up running as fast as he was now. She remembered how bad it had to be…to be so alone. She wouldn't have been able to survive that…but those two boys…they did. She was surprised when she was suddenly hit by a droplet of water. She looked up and saw that he was crying. "Naruto…" Temari saw this too and thanked the boy with all of her heart.

Sakura took a soldier pill from her kunai pouch and ate it. She used the extra chakra to increase her speed. She needed to ask the boy something. When she was next to him again, she could see that he still had an angry look on his face, but he had stopped crying. "Naruto? Why do you know so much about this organisation? And why are you scared of them? I know you are trying to deny it, but I can see that you are scared of them."

Naruto was shocked that the girl was able to see through him. He glanced to his side and saw that she was really worried about him. "Right after the sound war, I went to get the old hag with Ero-sennin. I told you this, remember." She nodded. "Well, two members of that organisation tried to take me with them just after I left." Sakura gasped now. He hadn't told her about this before.

Naruto saw this, but continued nonetheless. "One of them was Uchiha Itachi, Sasuke's older brother." Sakura's eyes widened because of his name. She didn't know that Sasuke had a brother. "What the hell."

Naruto looked down now. "He killed his entire clan and joined the organisation after that. He and the other member of the organisation were really strong. Ero-sennin could just barely fend them off. They are really powerful. His brother is the reason why Sasuke left the village. He wanted to get stronger to kill his brother. I didn't stand a chance and Sasuke didn't either. Without Ero-sennin, we would have been killed." Sakura's surprise turned to confusion now. "But why did you two never tell me about this?"

"Sasuke didn't get a chance to. You remember that he ended up in the hospital? It was because he was hit by a strong attack from his brother. It was some kind of improved sharingan. After he woke up, he left Konoha. As for me…I didn't want to make you worried. Bringing back Sasuke was the only thing that mattered, so I decided to keep quiet about it. You already had enough on your mind."

She nodded and clenched her fist. _'So that Uchiha Itachi is the reason why Sasuke's gone and now he tries to take Naruto with him too. I won't let him. I will protect him, even if I have to give up my life.' _She was broken from her thoughts when the boy next to her suddenly stopped. She stopped next to him and the girl from the sand village did the same. "What's wrong, Naruto? Why did you stop?"

"Can't you feel it? I was able to sense Gaara's chakra just now, but it disappeared all of a sudden." Temari shrieked. "Gaara!" She started to run again, but she was held back by the boy. "Don't jump to conclusions. He might just be running low on chakra. I will have to move a little faster to make it in time." Both women looked confused by this statement. He says he wants to move faster, but he stopped moving at all. They both raised their eyebrow.

Sakura was surprised when the boy gave her a serious look. "I can do this. They are quite far away, but I think I can make it. It will probably use up a lot of my chakra, but I will be able to get there." Sakura didn't understand and gave the boy a worried look. "Don't worry, Sakura-chan. They don't call me the number one unpredictable ninja for nothing. I'll figure something out." _'I can't tell her that I want to use the chakra of that damn fox. She wouldn't let me go. And she won't like what I'm going to say now either.'_ He gave the two girls a serious look. "You two stay here. These guys are too strong."

A vein appeared on the forehead of the pink haired girl now. "Don't even think about leaving me behind. I am coming with you no matter what." He tried to interrupt her but she put one of her finger on his lips. "I promised you that I would be there for you. I am going to kill those bastards." Naruto was surprised by her outburst, but felt really special right now. He gave her a smile. "Okay, you win. But if things get too rough, promise me that you will get out of there." She nodded and gave him a smile. "You got it!"

"Okay, you need to touch me now." He said it like it was the most normal thing in the world. Sakura took the words in the wrong way. "I should have known, you are just a pervert!" She was about to hit him, but the boy stopped her by grabbing her fist before she could strike. Naruto sighed and shook his head really fast. "How could you even think that, Sakura-chan. You know that I am not like my teacher. And if you hit me, I won't be able to move at all anymore. We need to be in a connection for the jutsu to work." Sakura became calm again now and hit herself for jumping to conclusions so fast. "I am going to try the jutsu that I was practising before the war, the hirashin no jutsu."

Sakura remembered all too well. She found the boy unconscious when he was training. She thought that he had died then. He didn't know how worried she had been that after she found him. He had even told Tsunade that he hadn't mastered it. She didn't understand why he would bring that move up. "Naruto, you said that you hadn't mastered it."

Naruto nodded. "I haven't mastered it yet, but I can perform the jutsu. It just takes a lot out of me. But this is the only choice we've got now. So hurry, touch my hand." He stretched out his hand in front of him and Sakura put her hand on his with a worried look on her face. She got a bad feeling in her stomach. They were both surprised when Temari put her hands upon theirs too. "It is my family we are talking about. There is no way that I am waiting here. I am not a jounin for nothing, you know." The two konoha ninjas nodded and a second later they were off.

Sakura had closed her eyes, because she didn't know what was happening, but when she opened them a second later, she could see that they were at a completely different location. She was amazed. The jutsu had actually worked. She looked to her friend and saw that he was having trouble breathing. "Naruto, are you okay?"

The boy didn't seem to listen to her. She turned her head to see where the boy was looking at and her eyes widened. Temari gasped when she saw it too. Kankurou lay on the ground and all of his puppets were destroyed. A weird shaped person was standing next to him. They were most surprised that he had a tail. "What the hell? Kankurou, can you hear me!?" The sand ninja started to run towards her brother when the guy with the tail jumped in front of him. "The guy here is done for. He is still alive, but he will die in three days."

Her eyes widened and she couldn't believe it. She didn't even see the tail coming her way. She was surprised when she was suddenly pushed out of the way. She saw that it was Naruto and she saw him get hit. She was about to scream when she saw that he disappeared. "Ah, a kage bunshin."

She suddenly heard an explosion and looked up. She saw that the other enemy was sitting on a weird bird. He was firing weird things at her other brother. She became worried and wanted to run that way. "Go to him. He needs you. You are better at long range fights anyway." She saw that Sakura was standing beside her now. "We'll save Kankurou and take care of this guy here." The sand girl nodded and started to run towards the kazekage.

When she was running she could see that her brother was getting tired. He had used a lot of chakra already. She looked up and saw that his enemy threw some small things his way. They looked like birds. Gaara used his sand to block them, but the moment they touched the sand, they exploded. Temari couldn't see her brother and jumped into the smoke. "Gaara!" She was relieved when she saw that the sand had protected him from the explosion.

"What took you so long, Temari?" Temari sighed and hit her brother. "What do you mean, if it wasn't for Naruto, we wouldn't have been here for a long time." Gaara made some seals and send his sand towards the enemy. "The guy's name is Deidera. I don't know why he told me his name, but he seems quite fond of himself. He used some kind of exploding clay. I don't think that he is very strong at taijutsu, because he avoids close combat. Now that you are here, we can begin the counterattack. He turns his explosion clay into birds and let them fly our way. And that's where you come in the picture. We are going to attack the bastard with his own stuff."

Temari understood what her brother was talking about and she nodded. "But we can better take the battle to an open field then." Gaara nodded and started to run south. Deidera saw the two sand ninja flee and let out a smile. "No matter where you go, you can't escape me, you monster." He put his hands in the bags on his pants and told the bird he was on to follow the sand ninja.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sakura wasn't happy at all. The boy next to her was breathing heavily. The jutsu had taken him a lot of his chakra. "Sakura-chan, I am going to keep that guy busy for a while. You take care of Gaara's brother. You can come help me after you have healed him." She didn't want her friend to face the enemy all alone, but she knew that he was right. She was the only one who could save Kankurou now. She nodded and headed Kankurou's way.

Naruto saw this and made some seals. He opened his mouth and shot out a ball of air. Sasori (he had told them his name) jumped out of the way and landed next to the boy. He used his tail to pierce the boy's heart, but when his tail hit his target, it disappeared. Sasori frowned and looked for the boy.

Sakura was doing a check-up on the sand ninja. She scanned his entire body with her medical skills and found out that he was poisoned. She used her chakra to cut his clothes and after doing so she was able to see the wound. Some purple stuff was coming out of it. "Damn it, he is poisoned." She made some seals and put her hands above the wound. The poison was coming out of the wound at a slow pace and it stayed in some kind of ball of chakra. When the last of the poison was finally out, she dropped the ball of chakra and the poison fell on the ground. The ground beneath the poison started to burn and Sakura was happy that she had gotten it out of his system. She sighed and healed the wound of the sand ninja. She stood up after she was done and she could see that Naruto was having trouble with the enemy.

Sasori used his tail to hit another Naruto, but again he disappeared. He was getting pissed now. He was surprised when he saw the boy heading his way with a ball of chakra in his hand. He tried to hit him with his tail, but he failed. The boy ducked and evaded the tail. He moved his hand with the ball in it towards the Akatsuki member. "Rasengan!" He was hit by the attack and was sent flying.

Naruto smiled and fisted his hand. "Take that!" When the enemy landed though, he could see that the body turned into sand. _'A sand clone…' _He looked around to find the bastard, when he suddenly heard something behind him. Naruto made the seals for a Kawarimi, but it was too late. Sasori's tail almost hit the boy, when the tail suddenly stopped.

Naruto was surprised when he saw that Sakura was holding the tail in her hands. "I see that you could use some help, eh." She gave him a smile and turned to her enemy again. She started to pull his tail to her and readied her fist. The Akatsuki member was being pulled her way and he couldn't stop himself. When Sasori was within range she punched him with all the power she had. She was surprised when she saw that wood was flying everywhere. "A puppet?"

"So you figured it out. Yes, I control puppets. That sand ninja actually thought that he could defeat me with the puppets I made." She turned around and saw a young boy standing on top of a rock. He didn't seem human anymore, but he wasn't a puppet too. His arm lied on the ground next to him, but she was surprised when the hand attached itself to the rest of his body again. _'So he can regenerate…'_

She could see that he had some kind of seal at his chest. She didn't know what it was and decided not to think about it now. She was surprised when he pulled out a scroll. He opened it and made a seal. There was some smoke and after the smoke had cleared she could see more than one hundred puppets. She couldn't believe her eyes. "With these puppets, I have conquered a country. Prepare for your demise!" She saw the puppets flying her way. She knew that she couldn't fight off that many puppets, but fisted her hand anyway.

She was surprised when Naruto jumped before her. She saw him make a lot of seals really fast. He bit his thumb and then brought his hands to the ground. "Tajuu kuchiyose no jutsu!" There was a lot of smoke when the smoke cleared Sakura could see a lot of frogs around her. Most of them were armed with weapons and armour. Sasori stopped his puppets for a second. He was surprised by the skill of the boy. Sakura turned to the boy who had summoned the frogs. He jumped her way. "Ero-sennin taught me this. But I don't think that the frogs alone will be enough to stop all of them. We need to go after the leader. We need to kill Sasori. If we kill him, the puppets will stop moving too. But he looks like a puppet himself too. How do we kill a puppet?"

Sakura thought for a while and realised something. "He can't be a puppet. Think about it…if he is a puppet, then someone has to control him. There must still be some human left in him. Maybe that seal at his chest. I don't see any other part of his body that can be human. I think if we can destroy that part of him….that we might be able to kill him." Naruto gave the girl a big smile. "I think you are right. You are one of the smartest people I know. Well, I am counting on you. I am going to need to help the frogs with these puppets. I know that I can leave this in your hands."

Sakura smiled now. They boy had placed all of his trust in her and she liked it. She was surprised when he took at a scroll. He opened it and made a seal. A pretty long katana appeared out of the smoke. He stretched out the hand with the katana in it. "Take it." Sakura's eyes widened. She remembered that sword. "That's…mother's sword."

"Yeah, she gave it to me and I promised to give it to you. Use this katana to kill that bastard. I'll do everything in my power to give you a clear shot." He handed her the sword and she took it without hesitating. "Don't worry. I'll get the job done." She put the sword in the holder that had been sealed as well. The holder found a place around her shoulder. The sword wasn't heavy at all and she was happy that she could wield her mother's weapon. She turned around and headed towards the puppet master. She stopped when Naruto called her name. She glanced over her shoulder. "Huh."

The boy gave her a small smile. "Be careful. I am not going to forgive you if you get yourself killed." He jumped on one of the frogs and made the cross seal. Suddenly there were Naruto's everywhere. She smiled and started to run again to kill the bastard. _'Don't die out there, you baka. I am not done with you yet.'_

Sasori was amazed by the skills of the boy and started to control the puppets. He knew he had the advantage, because his puppets could fly. The puppets, frogs and clones collided and they started fighting. The frogs were much stronger than the puppets, but there were just too many of them. One of the frogs made a seal and spit out a large ball of fire. He destroyed five puppets with the attack, but was attacked by three other right away. It went like this the entire time. Naruto was just outmatched. They were with too many.

Naruto decided that he had to take drastic measures now. He jumped in one of the bushes and made some seals. He let all of his clones surround the puppets. Sasori didn't know what the boy was doing, but it didn't matter. Those clones couldn't beat his puppets. The clones smiled at the puppets and suddenly they exploded. There was a huge blast and a lot of wood fell on the ground. When the smoke cleared, Sasori could see that more than half of his puppets were destroyed in the explosion. He got angry now, but when he saw that the boy emerged from the bushed with hardly enough energy to stand, he started to smile again.

He sent the remaining puppets his way, when they were suddenly blown back by a strong wind. He had to jump out of the way himself, when he saw that a lot of sand was coming his way. Naruto was surprised when Gaara and Temari landed next to him. "What happened to the other guy?"

Gaara shook his head. "Temari's wind attacks send his own explosions back to the bastard. He did more damage to himself than he did to us. I got hold of one of his arms with my sand too and crushed it. When he knew that h e couldn't beat us, he fled. We tried to stop him, but he was too fast for us with that bird."

Naruto nodded. "Well, at least you are still alive. And I hate to say it, but I could really use your help here." He said it while looking to all of the remaining puppets. "We need to keep the guy busy, so Sakura-chan can catch him off guard. You guys up for the job?" They nodded and Gaara began making some seals right away. A grand wall of sand headed towards the puppets and a few of them were pulverised. Naruto used this time to make some clones, but he could only make ten of them. He was pretty much out of chakra.

He sent his clones to fight some puppets, but remained next to Temari himself. She saw how tired the boy was and jumped in front of him. "I'll protect you for now. Use this time to gather some chakra. I can't hold them off forever." That moment two puppets came her way, but she used her huge fan to blow them away. Naruto nodded and made a seal. He started to gather chakra as fast as he could. He could see that Gaara and his sister were strong ninjas. He was really happy that they had become allies.

Sakura was trying to get behind Sasori. She needed to get him from behind. She had made some kage bunshin and let them gather around him. She made them all attack with the sword, but Sasori simply destroyed them with taijutsu. He was very fast and he had a sword of his own. He had some kind of iron rope coming out of his body too. He used that to strike the clones as well.

Sakura looked the other way to see how her friends were doing, while she let her clones do the fighting. Most of the puppets were destroyed, but she could see that all of her friends were tired. She didn't understand why Naruto wasn't fighting and was just standing behind Temari, but she knew that it had to be a plan. She was glad that Gaara and Temari were helping her friend. She was happy for two reasons: they had to have defeated the other enemy and Naruto wouldn't have to fight alone anymore.

She turned back to her clones and saw that almost all of them were defeated. She dispelled the last of them to make a big smoke curtain. She threw kunai and shuriken towards the smoke and waited for them to hit. Her eyes widened suddenly. She remembered all of a sudden what happened during the time she wasn't looking. _'So if you dispel a clone, you get all of the information that the clone gathered. Why didn't I figure this out sooner? This can be helpful in the future.' _The smoke cleared and she saw that he had blocked all of the weapons. She cursed and shook her head. She didn't know how to catch him off-guard. He seemed to even have eyes in the back of his head. Suddenly her head shot up. "That's it. The time to use the new jutsu is now." She started to make seals. She stopped when she suddenly heard a yell.

Gaara had been pierced by a sword from behind. He had fought off a lot of the puppets, but they were with just too many. He had too little chakra left to control the sand. He fell down with the sword still in him. Naruto and Temari both saw this. When they were looking towards their fallen friend, Sasori let one of the puppets attack Temari. He hit her from the side and she hit the ground with her head. Naruto saw this and broke the puppet with a quickly formed rasengan. He took Temari on his back and started to run towards his friend. When he reached Gaara he placed the girl on the ground and made the cross seal. He used all of his remaining chakra to make about twenty clones. They engaged with the puppets and Naruto sat down on his knees to see how his friend was doing. "Gaara!"

The kazekage looked up and could see the loud boy. "Hey, take care of my sister for me. Don't let anything happen to her. I can't keep my eyes open any longer…I am counting on you, my friend." His hand fell down next to his body and his eyes closes. "Gaara! This isn't funny…Gaara!"

Sakura saw what had happened and felt sorry for her friend. She knew that he saw the kazekage as a close friend. She hoped that he was still alive, but she couldn't go there now to check him. She had a mission to fulfil first. She started to gather some chakra. She had become a lot stronger because of the training with her master, but she still had a big weakness. She lacked stamina. She tired very easily. That's why she had to eat soldiers pills to get her chakra back. But she had used up all of her pills already. If she had known that they would encounter such enemies as these, then she would have brought more. She cursed herself for this.

Sasori smiled when he saw that the kazekage was out cold. "Looks like the monster is finally out cold. I have to do everything around here myself. That Deidera is no good. He always makes me wait and now he couldn't even beat this guy. When I see him again, I am going to kill him. But the bright side…I have just defeated my first jinchuuriki. Don't worry kid; the poison won't kill him yet. We have other things to do with him first."

He was about to say more when he was interrupted by no other than Naruto. "Shut up! Gaara is not monster! He is a kazekage worth of respect! You guys are the monsters!" Sasori wanted to say something, when he suddenly saw that the boy started to get a red glow around him. "You will pay for what you have done to him!"

'**Yes, let's show him our combined chakra, kit!**** Show him our anger…our hate! Use it to increase our power! Let the hate consume you!' **Naruto saw the fox through the cage in his mind. The beast sent out red chakra and it started to come up his body. He wanted to stop it, but he couldn't. The chakra was too strong. **'Kit, this is only a bit of my chakra. Remember this, if you remove the seal that the fourth hokage put on you…then you will be able to call upon all of my chakra!´ **Naruto was now completely taken by the red chakra and the fox laughed.

Sasori was shocked when he saw that the boy's nails and teeth grew. He looked in his eyes and saw that they weren't blue anymore…they were red. More chakra kept surrounding him and the puppet master was surprised when he saw two tails emerge from the chakra. The boy screamed and chakra was sent every way. Sasori had trouble keeping his ground. "What the hell…it can't be…this chakra….this kid is a jinchuuriki too!"

Sakura couldn't believe her eyes. The chakra was enormous and it felt really weird. It was the most evil chakra she had ever felt before. She saw the transformation that the boy had undergone and she felt really scared all of a sudden. _'Naruto…is this…is this the power you were talking about? …is this the power of the Kyuubi? But Naruto will be able to control the power…I just know it…so I don't have anything to worry about. I need to focus on taking out Sasori.' _

'**Yeah, of course he will be alright! And I hate to say it, but he does look kind of cute like this!**** I like it when he looks so dangerous…so daring!' **Sakura gave her inner self a confused look. "Naruto doesn't look like Naruto any more. I want the old Naruto back…the cute and happy Naruto." Her inner self heard her worried tone and did some fighting moves. **'Let's just let him fight his fight! We have to beat the puppet freak now! Shannaro!' **She looked at the changed Naruto one more time before she started to make seals. _'Please be alright, you baka.'_

Naruto felt the power surging through him and looked Sasori in the eyes. Sasori didn't know why, but he felt a chill on his back. He blinked one time and suddenly the boy was gone. He looked around and saw his puppets get defeated by long arms of red chakra. He sent ten puppets at the same time toward the boy. Naruto just screamed and sent chakra everywhere and the puppets flew back. They landed on the ground and Naruto put his hands in the ground. Suddenly all of the puppets were grabbed by red hands that came from the ground. The hands closed and the puppets were crushed.

The boy started running towards another puppet and destroyed it with a purple rasengan he had made in his hand. The explosion was big and Sasori didn't know that a jinchuuriki could become this strong. He took out a scroll and opened it. He made some seals and the scroll exploded. A big puppet emerged from the scroll and the puppet master let out a wicked smile. "I didn't expect to have to use this puppet. It is the strongest puppet I've got. Meet the third kazekage!"

Naruto didn't even seem to mind who it was and charged into him. Sasori laughed and moved the puppet. The mouth of the puppet opened and suddenly some kind of metal was heading towards the boy. He jumped away and saw that the metal was hard and he could see purple stuff on the points. He made the cross seal and made fifty clones. He charged into the puppet from every side and each clone had made a rasengan.

The puppet opened his mouth again, but wider this time. The metal went flying every way and every Naruto was hit. They all disappeared and the real Naruto had a wound on his arm. Sasori was confused when the wound started to heal right away. The poison was filtered too. He didn't believe his eyes. The puppet shot some balls of wind towards the boy. Naruto made some seals and shot out a few wind jutsus of his own. They collided and there was a huge explosion. Sasori couldn't see anything and braced himself from the explosion.

Sakura now saw her chance. She finished the seals and hit the ground. Sasori looked around, but the smoke just didn't clear. He didn't understand. He suddenly saw tree branches grab his arms and legs. "What the hell….genjutsu?" He tried to move with all his strength…but it just didn't work. Sakura saw that he was getting close to breaking out of the jutsu. She grabbed her sword and ran his way. Sasori used all of his power and he was finally able to break out of the genjutsu. He made some seals and turned around, when he suddenly felt something….he felt pain…he looked down and saw that a sword had pierced him. The sword hadn't just pierced him…it had pierced him at the only place where he could feel pain. "How! How did you know where to strike?"

Naruto was surprised when the puppet he was fighting with had stopped moving. He didn't care though. He formed a rasengan in his hand and destroyed it. Rage still filled his mind and he looked around for more puppets to destroy. When he looked to his left, he could see that Sakura had pierced Sasori with her sword. But he also saw that one of the puppets behind her suddenly stood up.

Sakura pulled out the sword and put the sword back in the holder. She looked him in the eyes and saw that he had trouble standing. "Well, you are a puppet yourself, but for you to move, you must still have a human part. So we figured that the place with the seal is your human part. If we would strike there, we might be able to kill you. So we made a plan and it has worked as you can see."

Sakura was surprised when Sasori fell on the ground and changed into some sand. "Your analysing and combat skills are great, girl. But nobody can defeat me!" She turned around and saw the real Sasori coming towards her with a sword in his hand. She didn't have enough time to dodge it anymore. She cursed herself for failing to see through the clone. She got in a stance to try to catch the sword, although she knew that it wouldn't work.

She was surprised when she saw a red blur appear in front of her. "Naruto!" She heard a scream of pain and walked past the boy to see what had happened. Her eyes widened when she saw that Naruto had pierced the human part of Sasori with his hand. He pulled it out and Sakura could see the blood covering his whole hand. Sasori fell on the ground without any signs of life.

Sakura turned to the boy and saw the red eyes. She didn't like them. She wanted to see the sparkling blue eyes of the boy. She could get lost in those eyes. But now they were replaced by these empty red eyes. She didn't like them at all. "Naruto…please come back, Naruto." She saw that his eyes widened and he looked at her. She saw that the red chakra around him was beginning to fade. His whiskers became smaller again and his hands turned back to normal. Lastly his eyes changed from red to blue and Sakura smiled now. _'There are the eyes I missed.'_

The boy fell down and Sakura caught him. He was very tired and had trouble to keep his eyes open. When he opened his eyes, he saw the most beautiful thing. He was in the arms of Sakura. She smiled at him and he smiled back. "You just had to overdo it again, did you?" She said with a gentle voice. Naruto grinned, but suddenly realised something. He shot up and looked her in the eyes. "Gaara!"

She realised that she had forgotten about the kazekage too and quickly stood up. She helped up the boy too and looked around to find the kazekage. They found him and walked towards him at a slow tempo. They both were almost out of chakra. Sakura looked down on the boy and saw the sword. She grabbed the sword and looked Naruto in the eyes. He nodded and she pulled it out. Gaara didn't even react, because he was unconscious. She took a good look at the wound now and shook her head. He was poisoned and the wound was very big. She made some seals and put her hands on the wound. She tried her best, but she just couldn't get the poison out. She removed her hands from the wound and gave Naruto a defeated look and sighed. "I'm sorry. I can't do it."

Naruto fell down on his knees next to her. "Why…why always him…why always Gaara. He had to go through everything alone…and still…he became the kazekage and helped the people that tried to kill him so often. He even came to help us. Why did he have to go through all of that…why!" Sakura saw that he was crying now. She became sad too and embraced the boy. He continued to cry and he hit the ground with his fisted hands several times. She saw that his fists were starting to bleed and she told him to stop, but he just didn't listen.

She suddenly sensed familiar chakra signals. She turned around and saw Shizune, Shikamaru and Jiraiya landing there. She didn't know how they have found them, but she didn't care at the moment. She was just happy that help had come. "Over here! The kazekage is down!" The three hurried towards the two chuunin and Shizune sat down next to the Gaara right away. She saw his bad condition and turned to Sakura. "What is his status?"

"He is poisoned and he's got a huge wound. You need to remove the poison carefully. It is a new poison and we don't have an antidote for it, so you've got to remove it by hand. Temari is fine, she is just unconscious." She turned to the girl and saw that Shikamaru was sitting by her. He was caressing her cheek with his hand. She could even see a small tear on the boy's face. She let out a small smile and turned back to her fellow apprentice.

Naruto was still sobbing a bit, but Sakura could see that he had calmed down a bit. She took his hand in her own and when he gave her a surprised look, she gave him a smile. "He will be alright." Naruto appreciated it and gave her a small smile. He continued to look at the work of the other apprentice of Tsunade after that. Naruto was amazed by the skill of the medical ninja. He saw the poison being removed with amazing speed. Even Sakura was amazed by this. She realised that she still had a long way to go to catch up with her fellow apprentice. After a little while she stopped the medical ninjutsu and turned to Sakura. "He is going to be fine. He just needs a lot of rest, but he'll be fine."

Sakura sighed in relief and turned to Naruto. She saw that he was smiling like never before. "Thank you so much, neechan!" He tried to stand up, but fell backwards right away. Sakura turned towards him and saw that he was unconscious. "Naruto!" She didn't even hear the rest of the ninja coming their way, because she blacked out too. _'Naruto…' _

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**AN**: Well, I hope I did okay on the battle. I tried to make the battle different than in the manga and I didn't want to bring Chiyo in the story, so I revolved it this way. Maybe I made Sasori look a bit weak, but I wanted to bring the fox power out and I wanted Sakura to show her genjutsu skills too. I didn't expand the Deidera/Gaara, Temari fight, because he will come back later. You will get to see him fight, don't worry. I know that I am kind of doing everything with Naruto and Sakura, but I will introduce another team in a mission after this.

I just read the first chapters of my story and I can see that they are very different than the later ones. They are short and I left out a lot of detail. I think I am going to expand them a little later on too.

Tell me what team you would like to be in the next mission. It will be a mission with Naruto, but without Sakura. ( I might use this chapter to make her a bit jealous.) Tell me what team you want to go with him:

-Neji, Lee, Tenten

-Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji

-Kiba, Hinata, Shino

Or if you want to mix the teams, tell me your idea. I am thinking to send Ino with him and then two others. But tell me what you think.


	13. Nightmares

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any character from the show.

Hey guys, thanks for all the nice reviews:) 69 alerts already. I am so happy. I am going to update once a week from now on I think. School is getting harder and I have to do more homework. I will try to finish my chapters as soon as possible though.

"Hello": regular talking  
_'Hello'_: thinking  
'_**Hello'**_: Inner Sakura and Kyuubi talking

Don't forget to R&R ;)

**Enjoy!**

"Naruto!"

A woman in a white gown walked over to the girl sitting up in the hospital bed. She was sweating and breathing heavily. Her pink hair was wet and she had tears in her eyes. After walking to the sink and making a piece of cloth wet, she walked over to the girl who so suddenly screamed the name of a certain boy. She sat down on the bed next to her. "Sakura? Are you alright?"

Sakura tried to steady her breathing and faced the woman. Black hair, a smile on her face, it was her fellow apprentice. "Shizune." The black haired woman pressed her hand on the girl's forehead and nodded. "You don't have a fever. That's good. That means that you are sweating because of something else. I think you just had a nightmare…maybe that's the cause."

The pink haired girl looked at her hands and saw that they were shaking. Trying to stop the shaking she lied down again. She quickly gave her friend a nod and closed her eyes. The woman smiled and brought the cloth to her face. She touched her forehead with it and Sakura opened her eyes immediately. Shizune smiled at her. "Don't worry; it's just a wet cloth. I am removing some of the sweat." The girl smiled then and closed her eyes again. She was too tired to keep them open any longer.

The slug woman's apprentice smiled when she saw that the girl had fallen asleep again. At times like this she really saw the girl as her own sister. She wasn't too happy with the test results though. After walking out of the room, she called another nurse to her. "I am going to hokage-sama, please take over for a while." The other woman nodded and saluted. Shizune took off her nurse gown and walked out of the hospital with her usual black clothes.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Tsunade was enjoying her sake once again. She loved to drink some of the stuff after a lot of paper work. She detested paper work more than anything. But it was part of the job. While taking another sip of her well deserved sake, she was looking at the mission report of Kakashi. She had sent him on a mission to investigate the hidden mist village. Although they had signed a peace treaty, she didn't quite trust them. She just couldn't lay her finger on it, but she had a feeling that it wasn't over yet.

She was about to take another sip of sake, when someone knocked on her door. Shocked by this, she threw the fluids over her face. A vein appeared on her forehead and she quickly cleaned herself. It had better be important or else the person at the other side of the door would be in for a lot of pain. After stashing away the remaining sake, she put on her serious face. "Enter!"

The door opened and a dark haired woman walked into the room. She stopped right before the desk of the hokage and saluted her. "What is important enough to bother me, Shizune?" She gave her apprentice glare which scared the woman. She started to laugh nervously, because she knew what the woman in front of her could do when she was mad. "It is about Haruno Sakura."

That name caught the old woman's interest. She placed her elbows on the desk and folded her hands. The back haired woman sat down on the chair that was in front of her and placed the chart of the girl who they were talking about on the desk. "After returning to Konoha three days ago, I have been monitoring her all the time as you had asked me. She has been sleeping almost the entire time and she had been recovering pretty fast because of that."

It was now indeed three days after the battle against the Akatsuki members. Shizune had seem the threesome leave the village and told the hokage immediately. After the hokage had heard the news, she had flipped. The kazekage was attacked and two of her most important people had left the village to help him. She had destroyed another desk with her monstrous strength and had told Shizune to go after them with a few others. The woman had found Shikamaru and the old sannin and had left immediately.

They had found the kazekage along with the rest of the people they were missing. They all were in a bad state. Shizune had been able to heal the kazekage and told the two young ninjas who were still awake as much. After she had told them though, they too had fallen unconscious. She had diagnosed then that they were both very tired and had used up too much chakra. After taking them back to Konoha, they were brought to the hospital right away.

The kazekage and his sister had healed quickly. They were being brought back to the sand village at the moment with the help of some Konoha ninjas. Shikamaru had insisted to go with them and Tsunade knew exactly why he wanted to go. She knew that he had a thing for the girl and let him go with them.

Naruto hadn't awoken at all yet. They had done tests on him and he appeared to have symptoms of chakra depletion. He had used too much chakra and would be down for at least three or four days. He didn't have any serious wounds, so that was one less worry for the hokage to worry about.

Sakura didn't have serious wounds either. She appeared to have used up too much chakra too and had been very tired. Tsunade had put Shizune on the job to take care of her apprentice and had taken the job to take care of Naruto herself with the help of some other medics.

The hokage didn't understand why Shizune would interrupt her while saying things she already knew. "What are you getting at, Shizune. I have got better things to do." The black haired woman recognised this tone and understood that the hokage was getting pissed. "Sakura has been waking up a lot…that's good and all, but each time that she wakes up she is sweating and breathing heavily."

The slug tamer was surprised by this new information, but knew what was wrong. "She has been having nightmares. What's wrong with that? Everyone has nightmares from time to time…there's nothing we can do about that." She sighed, because she wanted to help her apprentice, but she knew she couldn't. While sighing, she picked up the chart that the woman in front of her had placed on the desk. She gasped when she was done reading it. Looking at the woman, she now finally knew why she had come.

She didn't get a chance to speak though, because her apprentice beat her to it. "Looking at the data we have gathered, it seems that the girl hasn't slept well for some time now. She appears to be exhausted. I have done some tests and I got them back today. It seems that she has been having these nightmares for some time now and it has been keeping her awake for most of the time. I have found traces of sleeping pills in her blood too. She must have used them a lot….we wouldn't have been able to find traces of the pills if she hadn't taken much of them."

Gasping the old woman hit the wall behind her…leaving a big crack behind. "So she was the one who took them. Damn that girl!" Shizune raised her eyebrow. She didn't understand what the woman was talking about. She was about to ask her, when the hokage continued. "There have been sleeping pills disappearing from the medical cabinet lately. I didn't know who took them, but now I realise that she is the one who stole them. She has to stop taking these pills; they are a risk to her health. I have to talk with her about this when she wakes up."

The woman sighed and turned around her chair. She needed to look at the sky for a while. She needed some time to think. "Just one more thing, Tsunade-sama." The old woman didn't turn around, but made a sound as a sign for Shizune to continue. "Each time she wakes up…she screams the same word….the same name….she screams out 'Naruto'."

"What?" The slug princess quickly turned around now. The black haired woman continued now. "Each time that she wakes up, she screams his name. She talks in her sleep too and she always talks about the boy. I haven't been able to talk to her about it, because she falls back asleep too soon."

The hokage let out a huge sigh and shook her head. Everything was getting too much for her at the moment. The war with the mist, Akatsuki, and now this too. She didn't know how to handle all of this. Right now, she hated it to be the hokage. "I'll go to her now. I need to talk to her about this myself. Shizune, I want you to keep an eye on Naruto for me. Don't let him out of the hospital no matter what. If I know that runt, he could be awaking any moment now." The black haired woman nodded and exited the room. Tsunade stood up to go to the hospital herself too. She needed to have a few words with that stupid girl.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Sakura was running through great halls of some kind of maze. There was water on the ground everywhere and she could hear a dark voice coming from deep within the maze. She had seen Naruto enter the maze and had entered it to look for him. She didn't like the place though. It was a scary and dark place. Each hall looked exactly the same as the last one and she just couldn't find her friend. She called out his name several times now, but he just didn't answer.

She suddenly heard a loud growl and started to run that way. She could feel a feint chakra signal and turned around a corner. Her eyes widened at the sight. Naruto lied on the ground with a large wound on his stomach. She called out his name while she was running his way. She sat down beside him and placed his head on her lap. "Naruto, hey, are you alright?" He didn't respond and she tried again and again and again, but he just didn't move an inch. She couldn't believe it, she wouldn't believe it. Her eyes were teary, but she wouldn't let him go. She placed her hands on the wound and started to heal it.

'**It is no use. He is no more.' **She quickly looked up to see where that scary and dark voice came from. Her eyes widened again when she saw a huge cage with a seal on it. She could see a huge red figure behind the bars. "Who are you?!"

'**It doesn't matter who I am! That boy has served his purpose. I own him now. He has used my powers too often and now it is time for ****the price.' **She now understood that it was the Kyuubi behind the bars. She started to shake, but she didn't run away. She needed to protect the boy. A claw appeared through the bars and headed their way. The seal on the cage started to crumble and the cage opened a little.

'**He is just a weak kit; he can't do anything without me! Just let him go! Let me take him!' **The claw had reached them by now, but she was still there. "No, I won't let him go. Never! And he's not weak…he is the strongest person I know! He will beat you! You damn fox!"

She closed her eyes when the claw was about to strike. She wouldn't let him go. She would protect the boy like he had always protected her. If they were to die, then they would die together.

"Naruto!"

Sakura looked around and saw that she was in the hospital. She had trouble breathing and was sweating again. "Finally awake, eh." Shocked, she looked to her side and saw the hokage sitting in a chair. "Tsunade-shishou!"

The woman stood up and walked towards the bed in which the girl was lying. She sat down on the bed and moved her hand to her forehead. It was very wet. "So, you had another nightmare, didn't you?"

Sakura tried to get her breathing under control and nodded at the same time. The old woman sighed and put a hand on her shoulder. "How about you tell me about these nightmares of you? I hear that you have been having them for quite a while now." Sakura's eyes widened. She hadn't told anyone about the nightmares before. Sure, Shizune knew that she was having them, but she hadn't told her for how long she was having the damn dreams. "How do you know?"

She was confused when the hokage started to smile. "Come on, Sakura. You have been my apprentice for quite a while now. You should know that we have our ways. And you have woken up in the hospital quite a few times all sweaty too. And to top it off: each time you wake up, you call out Naruto's name."

Sakura's eyes widened. The hokage had seen through her. The old woman was looking her straight in the eyes which scared the pink haired kunoichi a bit. She didn't want to evade the questions any more. She had held this to herself long enough. "I have been having these nightmares for quite a while, just like you said. I scream out Naruto's name each time, because the nightmares revolve about him." Her master raised an eyebrow after this last statement. "I keep having dreams about Naruto's death. He dies in every one of those nightmares."

Tsunade stood up now and started to walk around the room. She didn't like it…she didn't like it at all. The girl had been dreaming about the death of her best friend. This happened sometimes after an emotional period. It would be understandable if the person to die in her dreams was her mother, but Naruto's death didn't make sense to her. She turned to the girl and could see that she was crying a bit. She rushed over to her and embraced her. "Shishou, I can't take it anymore. What if these nightmares come true? I don't want him to die. I won't let him die!"

Sakura's eyes suddenly shot completely open and she broke out of Tsunade's embrace. The old woman didn't know what had happened and gave her apprentice a confused look. "What happened to Naruto? Is he alright? The Akatsuki didn't get him do they? Please tell me that he is alright!"

Tsunade smiled and placed a hand on the shoulder of the kunoichi. She looked the girl straight in the eyes while answering: "He is alright. He has just used up too much chakra. He will be awaking soon. I think he will open his eyes today to be honest. But don't worry about him…he's fine." Sakura let out a huge sigh and lied back down on her bed with closed eyes. "Then I am glad."

She didn't see that Tsunade was giving her a devilish smile. "You seem awfully concerned about him." Sakura opened her eyes and saw the grin on the woman's face. She finally realised what her master meant. "Shishou!" She started to blush. Tsunade started to laugh now. "Seems like I'm right. You can't hide anything from me, Sakura."

The girl was still blushing, but started to smile now too. "I don't know what I am feeling right now. I really like him, that's for sure. I don't know if it is love or not, but I am willing to give him a chance. I don't ever want him to get hurt and I am willing to protect him…even with my life. He has always been alone….he always had to deal with everything on his own….and still he was able to give me his smile. Still he was always there for me. That stupid fox has given him nothing but trouble."

Tsunade's eyes widened. "You know about the Kyuubi!?" The woman knew that the boy hadn't told his secret to anyone. He was afraid to lose the people who are important to him and he even told her that he wouldn't tell anyone. Up to now only the adults knew of the secret.

"He has told me after the memorial service. He came to my house to cheer me up and help me through the hardest moment in my life. I am so thankful for that. I don't know what I would have done without him." Tsunade let out a small smile now. She was happy that it had worked out.

"He then told me his secret. He trusted me enough to tell me. He told me everything. The glares, the hate, the loneliness….He even started to cry when he told me…I really saw him cry. He trusted me enough to let me see him cry. I never saw him cry before. He had bottled up everything inside, because he was scared that his only friends would leave him too. Don't you know how sad that it!" She said the last sentence with a fierce look in her eyes.

Tsunade was taken back by the words of her apprentice. She had never seen her so fierce as today before. She wanted to say something, but the pink haired girl didn't even give her a chance. "Nobody ever looked at him, nobody ever helped him! He had to go through everything alone. But still he was always there for every one. Even though I used to push him away…he would bounce right back. He knew that I always liked Sasuke…He knew that I found him annoying at the time. But still…he was there for me….he even promised to bring that fool back to me…just so that I could be happy. You know how noble that is!"

Tsunade felt really sad now. She knew the kid's personality. She had seen the true boy herself…the boy behind the mask. She took another look at her apprentice and she could see that she was crying freely now. She didn't even try to hold back her tears anymore. When the old slug tamer tried to embrace her, the girl lifted up her hand as a stop sign.

"He came to me after the memorial to make sure that I wouldn't feel lonely. He wouldn't let me feel lonely. He told me that I would never have to feel lonely as long he is there. Don't you know how that makes me feel? I have never been there for him. He has lived alone for almost all of his life. And I used to ignore him too…just like the rest of those people. His life must have been so hard…as if the Kyuubi alone wasn't enough. Why…why can't people just accept him for whom he is…why?!"

She was crying furiously now. She didn't mind that the whole hospital was able to hear her scream. She didn't care anymore. The woman next to her was shocked. She didn't know that her apprentice was this…this determined to help the boy. She knew she cared about the boy, but not like this. The revelation of the Kyuubi was one thing she hadn't expected. But she still accepted the boy with all her heart. She wanted be there for him even more now. Tsunade was glad that there were people in the world with such big hearts as those two children had.

Sakura was surprised when the fifth hokage embraced the girl once again. She tried to push the woman back, but the blonde used her strength to stay put. After resisting for a while, she gave up and just cried in the arms of her master. "And then I see him die in my dreams every time. It is just not fair. The dreams keep on getting worse and worse. I reach him every time, but I am just not able to save him."

The slug woman let out a small smile what confused the girl in her arms. "What is so funny, shishou? Here I am pouring out my heart and you just smile!" She was surprised when the woman put a hand on her mouth to silence her.

"I think I know why you are having these nightmares, Sakura." Confused, the girl kept silent and waited for an explanation. "The nightmares began when you started to miss the boy. Then when he got back and you learned more about the boy, the nightmares got worse. In the dreams he dies and you are unable to help him. Sakura, I think that you are scared to lose Naruto. You are scared that you are unable to help him. You are scared that he will die. Isn't that right?"

The pink haired girl wanted to yell at her sensei for being wrong, but after thinking about it, she knew that the woman next to her was right. She nodded and lowered her head. The slug woman let out a smile and patted the girl on the back. "He won't get hurt, Sakura. You know how the boy is. He is just like weed…you just can't get rid of him." Both started to laugh at the statement. "And you are there to protect him most of the times too." Sakura smiled when she said that. "I won't let anything happen to him!"

Tsunade smiled and stood up. "I think that you should go talk to him, Sakura. I will help you and him at the same time. I think you should tell him about the dreams. If anyone is able to help you through this, it is that guy." Sakura nodded with a downward face and jumped out of bed, much to the old woman's surprise. "Where are my clothes, Tsunade-shishou?" The woman just pointed to the closet and smiled.

"Oh yeah, Sakura. I have found out that you have been taking sleeping pills without permission. I am going to punish you for taking them and you have to give to pills you have left back. They are bad for your health and if I am right, the nightmares will stop after today." The pink haired girl was shocked that her master had found out about the pills, but she was glad that she didn't get angry on her. She put on her shirt and nodded. Then Sakura gave her master one last smile and walked out of the room.

Tsunade walked back to her office while Sakura headed towards Naruto's room. She had offered to go with him, but Sakura had told her that she wanted to be alone with him for a while. The woman didn't even say anything, but just gave a nod and went back to her room. She opened the door and saw the paper work on her desk. She sighed and sat down on her chair. She knew that Sakura had a thing for the boy. She was just denying it. It would be a matter of time before those two would be together. After picking her bottle of sake, she let out a huge smile.

Sakura was very nervous while she was walking towards Naruto's room. She didn't know what to say to him and how. After finally reaching the room with the boy in it, she let out a deep sigh. She opened the door and scanned the room. The boy was sound asleep in his bed. Shizune was in the room too and walked over to the girl.

Sakura took this time to look the woman straight in the eyes. "Can you leave me alone with him for a while, please? Shishou has given me permission. I need to tell him something and I don't want anyone else to hear this." The black haired woman smiled and nodded. She didn't say anything and just left the room.

She walked to the bed and saw the boy. A goofy smile was plastered on his face as usual and he was sleeping really peaceful. She thought that he looked really cute now. She closed in on him more and more and before she knew it she was only a few centimetres above him. Their faces almost touched. She was about to move in a little closer, when one of his hands suddenly moved. She jumped back quickly. Her heart was bonking against her chest. _'What is this feeling? Why is my heart racing like this?'_

'**You were going to do what I think you were going to do, weren't you? I didn't think that you were the type to take advantage of him like that. You****'ve got style!' **She quickly hit her inner self and calmed herself. The boy was slowly getting up. When he was almost halfway there, he fell back again. To his great surprise he didn't hit his pillow. He opened his eyes and was surprised to see that Sakura had caught him. "Sakura-chan?"

She placed the boy down and gave him a sweet smile. "Hey there." She sat down next to him now and moved her hand through his unruly hair. "You sure slept a long time, sleepy head." She saw the he was still pretty confused. Who wouldn't be after waking up in a completely different place than you would expect? He was looking around the room with a dreamy look on his face. Then suddenly his eyes opened and he turned to her. "What happened to Akatsuki, what happened to Gaara!"

He was surprised when she placed her fingers on his lips. "Gaara is fine and he is already gone. He wanted to go back to the sand as fast as possible. He is the kazekage after all, so he had to go back to his people as soon as possible. We both blacked out after the battle and Shizune and the rest brought us back to Konoha. We have been out for three days. I just woke up and they told me that you were going to wake up soon too, so I decided to visit."

The boy's lips curled into a smile. "Then I am glad. So how have you been, Sakura-chan?" He looked at the girl and saw that she was getting serious all of a sudden. Her eyes lost their caring touch and her lips turned in a straight line. "That's part of why I have come here. I wanted to tell you something that I have been hiding for some time now."

She could see that the boy was getting confused, but she continued nonetheless. "I have been having nightmares for a while now. In all of these nightmares you end up dying." The eyes of the boy widened now, but she still continued. "I wake up every time crying and sweating. Because of these dreams I haven't been able to sleep well lately and I have been taking sleeping pills to get a little sleep. I have just talked to Tsunade-shishou about it and we think that I am having these nightmares…because I am afraid…to lose you."

Naruto was in shock. Sakura out of all people was afraid to lose him. He felt really glad that she cared for him so much. But he became worried too, when he thought about the nightmares. When he heard the sound of sobbing, he turned to her again and his face fell when he saw what he saw. His pink haired friend was crying. "I don't want to lose you, Naruto. I don't want to see you get killed."

She was surprised when she felt arms encircling her. When she opened her eyes, she could see that Naruto had embraced her in a fierce hug. He looked her in the eyes with a serious look. "Don't worry, Sakura-chan. I won't be going anywhere. You are not going to lose me. You can count on it. So please stop crying. It pains me to see you like this." He used his hands to cup her cheeks and used his thumbs to wipe away the tears. "You are much more beautiful when you smile anyway."

She looked into his eyes and could see that he was telling her the truth. She launched herself at the boy and wrapped her arms around him. He was so surprised by the assault that he fell backward. She blushed when she realised that she was lying on top of a boy. She quickly jumped off of him and turned around to hide her blush. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have." When she turned around again to see how the boy was fairing, she became angry. The boy had fallen asleep. She just couldn't believe the nerve of the boy. _'I fall on top of him and he just falls asleep. Does he really like me?'_

'**I don't know! Every man would have ****been the happiest guy in the world. Maybe he is just tired…you know that nobody is able to resist us. He will have to make this up to us! That guy hasn't seen the last of the mighty Haruno Sakura yet! Shannaro!' **Sakura smiled when she saw that her inner self was still reading her perverted book.

She totally agreed with her second persona though and walked back to the boy. She pulled the cover over the boy again, when she saw that he was shivering a bit. _'He looks so peaceful. Just you wait; you're not off the hook yet, Naruto-baka.' _

She moved her face closer to his and gave him a small peck on his lips. Their lips just barely touched, but she knew that this small one-sided kiss was of great significance. She had just kissed him and it felt good. She could feel her heart race in her body. And when she saw that a smile appeared on his face too, she couldn't be happier. "I'll see you later, Naruto." With that she left the room.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next few days went faster than a speeding bullet. Sakura had avoided Naruto for the last few days. She didn't get as much nightmares as before and she was very thankful for that. The only thing Naruto was doing these days was training. They hadn't gotten any mission for some time now, but she had heard that he was going to go on a mission tomorrow. He had to go to the village of the mist to bring back someone to interrogate.

It was good to be the apprentice of the hokage sometimes. She had overheard the hokage talking to Shizune about the war. It seems like Akatsuki was involved too. She didn't believe that that stupid organisation was behind all that. That stupid organisation was getting more troublesome by the minute. She decided to go to Naruto today before going home from training. Tsunade had pushed her to her limits once again and she just wanted to go to sleep, but she knew that this was the last time she could see the boy before he would leave.

While walking through the village she looked all the people in the eyes. She still couldn't believe how the people of the village could treat the boy so badly. She had beaten one of them before, when he had called her a demon friend. The guy was transported to the hospital right away with some broken bones. He had been screaming like a baby and when he had finally reached the hospital he was in for the worst. When he saw who his doctor was, he flipped. It was the same pink haired girl who had put him there. She still remembers how she said that she'd needed to break some bones to fix everything. She had let out all of her aggression that day.

She remembered that Naruto had told her that he would be training on the training grounds of team seven. It was the only place he trained since he came back. She often went to see him train after her own training. She loved to see the boy work out. She would watch him from afar, so that he couldn't sense her. She knew that she was beginning to look like Hinata, but she didn't care. Looking at the boy would make her day good again after a long day of training. He looked so sexy while training.

She finally reached the gate to the training grounds which she was searching for. She did the same thing she always did….she jumped into a tree. Hoping to see the boy do some kind of heavy workout, she was disappointed to see something entirely different. Her eyes widened in fear and in rage as she saw that he wasn't training, but talking with someone else. And it wasn't just someone. He was talking with Tenten, the weapon mistress. She didn't know why, but she felt so angry right now. She just wanted to hit something.

She couldn't hear what they were talking about, but she had an idea. She could see that they enjoyed their time together. Laughing was one thing they were doing a lot. _'Those bastards are probably making fun of me. Or they are laughing, because they know what they were going to do this evening…together.' _

'**That wench stole our man! This cannot be forgiven. Kill her! Kill her!' **Inner Sakura was armed and ready to kill. Sakura couldn't help but sweat drop when she saw all the weapons her inner self had, but she did agree with her. That bitch had stolen Naruto from under her nose. She even called her a friend. Friends don't do this. Then suddenly she realised that she couldn't steal the boy, because he was never hers to begin with. Her face fell and she mentally hit herself. She was too late. When she saw that they hugged each other, she knew that she was right. Tenten had won the guy, because she had been too slow.

When she saw that the weapon master had disappeared, she jumped down the tree and started to walk towards the boy. When she saw him train again, she realised that he would never be hers. When she saw that he was running towards another training post, she could see the training post change into herself. When he destroyed the post, she could feel her own heart breaking. She closed her eyes to get the images of the boy in front of her and Tenten out of her head, but it only got worse. She saw the hug that he shared with the girl over and over in her head. It made her mad, but she was too sad to express the anger in her voice. She reached him and just stood there, hoping that he would notice her. After she had remained quiet for more than three minutes, she decided to start the conversation. "Hey, Naruto." She said it in a very low voice.

The boy stopped with his heavy training when he heard a familiar voice. He landed on the ground and saw his pink haired friend standing next him. He became happy the moment that he saw her. He ran towards her with a big smile on his face. _'She will be so happy when I tell her the news.' _When he stopped next to her, he didn't become happier though. When he saw the downward look on her face, he began to feel a pain in his chest. The boy hated to see her like that. "Sakura-chan, what's wrong?"

The girl didn't answer, but continued to stare down to the ground. "Is there anything I can do to help, Sakura-chan?" Again she stayed quiet. He placed a hand on her shoulder, but she slapped it away. She raised her head a little and looked him in his eyes. She could see the confusion and hurt in those deep blue eyes, but he deserved it for doing this to her. "I just came to wish you good luck on your mission."

The boy was surprised by her action, but he didn't know what he had done wrong. He decided to let it go for now, because the girl seemed to be in a foul mood. "Thanks a lot, Sakura-chan! I am going to the mist village tomorrow for a mission. I will be away from the village for at least a week. It will be a dangerous mission, but don't worry. Nothing will happen to me. I'll be fine with Ino, Shikamaru and Tenten there."

He didn't see that a vein started to appear on the forehead of the girl in front of him. "Oh yeah, I wanted to tell you something that Tenten and I have talked about. It is..." He couldn't finish his sentence. He was sent flying because of the fury of a certain pink haired girl. "Have fun with Tenten on your mission, you baka!" When Naruto tried to stand up, he could see that the girl was running away with unseen speed. He brought his hand to his broken cheek and tried to call out to the girl.

When she was out of sight, he sat down on the ground. _'What did I do wrong? I thought that we were getting close. Seems like I was wrong. But still, she didn't have to hit me like that...especially since I have convinced Tenten to help her with her training. Well, I will talk with her about this when I get back. Better to concentrate on the mission for now.' _He started to walk back to his home with his hand still at his cheek.

Sakura had returned home and was now in her bedroom. Crying on her bed, she reached out her hand to grab a picture. In the picture Naruto was smiling with his typical grin...the grin she liked so much. She closed her eyes for a moment and opened them again. She could see herself next to him in the picture. She let out a small smile when she saw that. A second later though the she started to change. She got a bit taller and she was changing more and more and suddenly Naruto was standing next to the weapon mistress. She let out a scream and threw the damn picture away. The frame broke and she continued to cry herself to sleep.

The blond boy was standing next to the girl she hated so much right now. The kunoichi of them Gai was holding his hand and had a big blush on her face. When Sakura looked to the left, she could see herself...she was all alone. The darkness was taking her and she wanted to be taken by it. She closed her eyes and let herself fall in the depths of darkness. Her eyes shot open when she wasn't falling anymore. She looked up and saw that Naruto was holding her hand. He pulled her back up and caught her in his arms. He gave her a smile and put her back down. When she tried to say something, nothing came out. Her voice just didn't work. Even when the boy started to walk away, she couldn't call him back to her. She gathered all the power she had for one final scream. "Naruto!"

She looked around and saw that she was in her room again. She was breathing heavily. Looking around she figured that she had another nightmare. It didn't end up with Naruto dying, but she didn't feel any better this time…too be honest, she felt even worse. After opening the curtains, she could see that it wasn't dark anymore. She picked up the alarm clock which she had thrown on the ground some time ago and her eyes widened. It was midday already. Her shishou hated it when someone wasn't on time. She was in for a world of pain and to make things worse...she couldn't see the boy she loved off. He had left her behind...all alone.

That was the only thought that ran through her mind the whole day. She didn't even bother to pay attention. When she shook her head and looked around she didn't know what she was doing. She was suddenly hit by a kunai in her leg and she winced in pain. _'Was I so spaced out that I didn't even know that I was sparring…'_ When her master saw this, she healed the girl and sent her home. Sakura nodded without hesitation and started to walk home. It had been a bad day and she just wanted it to end as soon as possible.

When she returned home she just sat down on the couch on which the boy had slept not too long ago. She wanted him back so badly. She didn't know exactly since when, but she felt so alone without him. _'I'll win him back. I'll show that bastard that I am much better than that stealing wrench. I will show him the love of Haruno Sakura!'_

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Naruto thought that he was in a beautiful place. There was water everywhere and the forests around here were nice too. He had left on the mission some time ago now. The mist village wasn't that far from Konoha, so the trip wouldn't be too long. The sand village was much farther and he was glad that he didn't have to go that far. Although he wanted to know how Gaara was doing. He hadn't seen him after the battle with Akatsuki and was concerned about him. The only thing that bugged him here was that there was mist everywhere. Not seeing anything irritated the young Kyuubi container.

He was currently the front man. Shikamaru had again made the travel strategy, because all of the konoha eleven knew that he was the most experienced leader. The hokage had even trusted him enough to let him lead the attack against the mist ninjas. Nobody complained when he decided to be the leader of the mission. They were travelling in a straight line. Naruto was on the front, because he was the most energetic ninja. He would be able to react on a situation very fast and he could make clones to help him too if he would be isolated from the rest.

Behind the loud boy was Shikamaru. He decided to be the second in line, so that he would be able to give the front man commands and he could give the people behind him commands by using hand signs. He had recently learned some nice battle techniques. His father had been the one to teach them to him. Looking down he still remembered the day his father died. He clenched his fist, because he knew that the village they were currently going to was to blame for it. Before he had left on the mission he had vowed to succeed. He wasn't going to fail this mission no matter what.

Ino was the third in line. She didn't know why she was sent on this mission. As a medical ninja, she didn't have much mission experience. Sure, she had gone on missions with Asuma, Chouji and Shikamaru, but those missions were all easy. Most of them were C-rank. She didn't feel good about this mission. She knew that there was a high possibility that there was going to be some fighting. Medical skills and infiltration were the things she was good at. She was probably chosen because of her infiltration skills.

She was happy though that she was going on this mission with the blond Ninja in front of her. He had grown so much and she couldn't keep her eyes offa him. He was just sexy! She hated that he was spending a lot of time with her pink rival, but the pink haired girl didn't seem to be so interested in the boy. _'This will be my chance. I have got to make that boy mine before it is too late. I have seen that Hinata girl looking at him too…the girl even drooled. She has been gaining a lot of confidence lately and it won't be long until she will ask him out. I'll just have to show him something he won't ever forget on this mission!' _Nobody could see it, but Ino had a devilish smile on her face.

Lastly Tenten was at the rear. She was the best weapon handler in all of Konoha and she could throw lots of weapons at the same time. Shikamaru had figured that she would be the best at the rear for the same reason Naruto was best at the front. They both were able to take out a lot of enemies fast. She was probably on of the strongest kunoichi of the village. Maybe Sakura was better, but she hadn't fought the girl since the chuunin exams so long ago.

She was happy to go on this mission with Naruto. She hadn't known the boy for so long. She always thought that he was kind of annoying, but after he came to her a few days ago to help him with his training, that all changed. She saw the real Naruto that day. She had never seen the honest, serious side of him. He openly admitted that he needed help. She was so shocked by this that she accepted his request right away.

He had showed her a weird sword. Supposedly it was the sword of a legendary warrior. When she had asked him how he had gotten the sword, he said that his teacher gave it to him. There were strange seals on the sword and he was even able to send his chakra into it to make it even sharper. She had never seen a sword like that before and helped the boy to handle it. Although his teacher had given him the sword, he didn't know how to handle it either, so the boy was on his own, until he came to her. They trained together for three days and he was finally able to handle it properly.

He had even surprised her more when he asked her for something else. He had asked her the day before they left for the mission to help Sakura train. He had told her that she had just acquired a new katana and that she hadn't fought with swords before. He almost begged her to help the girl with it and when she said that she would do it, he immediately hugged her, while saying words of thanks. _'He probably cares very much for that girl to be so eager to help her. I do see him spend a lot of time with her. Maybe he wants to become more than friends with her. I think that they will be a great couple. They look really cute together.' _She giggled, while she was looking at the back of the blond boy.

Naruto noticed that the mist was getting thicker and thicker. He had heard that the village hidden in the mist lived up to it's name. When the mist became so thick that he couldn't see anything anymore, he decided that it would be best to stop now. He glanced over his shoulder and looked the lazy ninja straight in the eyes. With one nod from him, the loud ninja stopped in his tracks and the rest stopped behind him. After looking around, the leader of the mission decided that this would make a fine place to stay for the night.

The lazy ninja put down his bag and sat down on a log. "So, who's going to take watch tonight? I took watch last night and it would be too troublesome to go though another night without sleep." He looked around and saw tired faces around him. He saw that Naruto gave him a smile though. "I'll do it." They all nodded and took their sleeping bags out of their bags and placed them on the ground. Naruto leapt away and came back some time later with tree branches. He put them down in the middle of them and lighted it with a small Katon jutsu. He didn't have an affinity for fire, but he knew how to use one or two fire jutsus.

They all prepared their food…Naruto had brought instant ramen of course…and began to eat. It was quiet for some time and Naruto decided that he couldn't take it anymore. He hated big silences…he already had to live through silence most of his life. "So, Shikamaru, how are we going to do this tomorrow? We are going to infiltrate the village, right. So how do you want us to act?" Everyone was surprised that the boy in front of them was able to start a serious discussion. They had expected a stupid sentence. The boy had really matured.

"I am glad you asked. Listen well, everyone. I am only going to say this once. It would be too troublesome to say it twice. We are going to infiltrate the village in two teams. We will say that we are two couples and we are just travellers searching for a place to stay for a moment. So we can't wear our ninja gear. I have told you to bring regular clothes too, so tomorrow you will have to put those clothes on.

We will stay in the village for one week. So in seven days at 19.00 I want everyone to be here. Gather as much information as you can. Any information is vital here. When we come back here, we are going to put all of the pieces together and then we are going to make our move. We need to take someone with us who can tell us what is going on. It would be nice if this would not become troublesome, but I don't think that it will be so easy."

Looking around he could see that everyone nodded and he let out a big sigh. He saw that Ino was waiting hopefully for what was coming next. He raised his brow, but she didn't say anything. _'Please let me get with Naruto.'_ Shikamaru looked around and lowered his head. "The teams can't come into contact with another for the week. Naruto, you go with Ino and I will go with Tenten." Shikamaru was surprised when Ino suddenly made the peace sign, but simply mumbled something that resembled 'troublesome'.

Naruto jumped into one of the trees surrounding the camp and looked around for possible enemies. The rest was sound asleep already. The trip had been tiring and everybody needed their rest. _'A whole week with Ino. What did I do to deserve this? She is cute, I won't deny that, but she is just scary most of the time. I wish it would have been Sakura-chan.' _

He became sad the moment her name came to his mind. He still didn't know why she was angry at him and he hated it. Had he done something wrong? He shook his head and clenched his fist. He would talk to her after this mission was over. _'I just don't know why, but I get the feeling that something bad is going to happen on this mission…' _

Little did he know, but a certain blonde was looking at him the whole time with a devilish smile on her face. _'You're mine, Naruto.'_

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

**AN:** So I have decided to go with Ino, Tenten and Shikamaru. I have gone with Tenten because Sakura was already jealous on her when she saw them together in the village. I made Ino go because she thinks Naruto is hot now too and she won't hesitate to make a move. And I made Shikamaru go, because I needed a male and I think he is the best choice for this mission.

I didn't let Hinata go, because I already wanted Ino to go to make a move and Tenten was going too because of the incident with Naruto. So Hinata is left out. But don't worry. Sakura is jealous already, and she will be even more after they return.

Next chapter will be the mission. I will be focusing on Ino and Naruto's team of course. There might be some NaruIno moments in the next chapter. But don't worry…this is a **NaruSaku **story. I think they will return to the village next chapter too. Maybe some narusaku fluff then. I haven't thought so far ahead yet.

I am going to introduce a new person the next chapter too. He will be one of the important characters of the story. Not like Naruto and Sakura, but more like the rest of the village. I am a final fantasy freak and he will be from one of the games. He won't act completely like in the game, but he will look the same. He is from the mist village. Do you know who it is? Try to guess;-)

Hint: He will be in the same gang as two other mist ninjas you have seen so far in the manga.(kisame and zabuza)

Well, review and I hope to see you again next chapter


End file.
